Cry Till We See
by thatgleekychick
Summary: Sequel To All These Words on Replay. What will it take to fix all the wounds New Directions have?----I suck at summaries.---It's mainly Puckleberry with a little bit of everyone else!
1. The Showcase

AN: So this took me a lot longer than I had anticipated but here we go…it's a lot longer than I had anticipated as well. I'm not sure the rest of the chapters will compare. This may have belonged better as the ending to All These Words on Replay, but like I said during the AN on that story, I truly believe that there had to be the break there. I don't own Glee or any of the tons of music I used in this chapter. PLEASE Read and Review!!! I love when I can check my email and actually have feedback on what I've done, it makes me more inspired to write as well. Okay, here we go….

* * *

Puck was bored out of his mind as Mr. Shuester was reminding New Directions yet again that the showcase was tonight. There was no way Puck was going to forget. One, because Mr. Shuester reminded them daily; two, he had been rehearsing every single day for the last two weeks; and three, his arm was currently draped around the shoulders of Rachel Berry, his girlfriend, and there was absolutely no way that Rachel was going to let him forget about something this important. He smiled a little at all the craziness that had been going on as Rachel had placed Puck, herself and even Quinn on a rigorous rehearsal schedule. Puck understood why Quinn was involved since the two girls had recently formed a close bond and had decided that they should perform a duet during the showcase. No one was more shocked than Puck when Rachel announced to the entire glee club that she would indeed not be singing a solo at the showcase. It was what Rachel lived for, the spotlight, but from what Rachel would let Puck hear of their song, she was going to have enough of the spotlight to get through without any emotional damage. Rachel had insisted Puck sing a solo, to go with their performance of _Broken_. After rummaging for the perfect song, he made his choice after being forced to actually watch RENT with Rachel. Puck would never admit this to anyone, and even hated that he was thinking it, but Mark was, despite Rachel's previous assessment, a badass Jew. He wasn't truly alone at the end like Rachel had said before.

Mr. Shuester dismisses rehearsal with another reminder to return to school by six o'clock for a final run through of their group number and to make sure that everyone else's solos and duets were proficient. Everyone got up and began to exit, yet Puck felt Rachel escape his hold as she shot straight for Mr. Shuester to ask him another series of questions about tonight. While he admitted her passion and dedication was admirable, having to sit here and wait while she bombarded their leader with ridiculous questions was doing a tough job on his patience. But when Puck looked at Rachel and the smile on her face, and the scowl on Mr. Shuester's, he suddenly had all the patience in the world. That girl could convince him to wait in that ridiculously uncomfortable plastic chair forever; all she had to do was smile. Puck had convinced himself that this was the new Noah-Puck combo speaking. While Noah was interested in her smile, Puck was solely concerned in what else Rachel could be doing with her mouth.

Puck turned as Quinn sat down in the now empty seat next to Puck.

'I thought you'd be on your way home by now," Puck said to the blonde who had moved back in with her idiotic parents who couldn't have been more thrilled by the miscarriage.

"I have a duet with Rachel tonight; do you honestly think she's letting me go home?" Quinn said laughing.

And although Quinn sounded upset about the idea of rehearsing with Rachel again, she wasn't. In fact, she couldn't be more thrilled. After everything with baby gate, Quinn found she didn't really have the friends that she was struggling to hold onto before. They may have all felt sympathy for her because of the miscarriage, but she still cheated on Finn, and for whatever reason Finn was glee's golden boy, and everyone including Santana and Brittney seemed to have taken Finn's side. So having Rachel on her side, and as her friend was more than Quinn could ask for; and in her opinion more than she deserved after the way she treated Rachel. But Quinn was determined to be a changed person.

"You walked into that one Quinn," Puck said laughing, as Rachel seemed to finish with Mr. Shuester. He stood up and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and placing a kiss on her temple.

"Santana's having a party after the showcase tonight. We should all go." Quinn announced.

"Like a glee party?" Rachel asked.

"I'm pretty sure she's inviting most of the school, but yeah."

"I didn't think she was talking to either one of us." Puck said motioning his fingers between him and Quinn with his free hand.

"Neither did I. But she came up to me today and made sure that I knew that all three of us were invited."

"Weirder things have happened," Puck said. And that was the truth, like the fact that he was dating Rachel Berry. Weird wasn't always a bad thing.

"So we're going." Quinn said.

Puck looked over at the brunette beside him whose face was suddenly covered in a panicked expression, "What's wrong?"

"I-Well I've just never been invited to a party before."

Puck pulled Rachel closer to him, "Well then we are going to make sure that you get the full party experience."

"Oh, I will not be drinking alcohol."

"Great! Then you can be the DD!" Quinn said jumping from her chair, her blonde hair bouncing around her head.

"Quinn, I'm not sure that my dads would allow me," Rachel said timidly.

"You can spend the night at my house. And it's a glee party, you HAVE to be there," Quinn said as Puck rolled his eyes at the amount of excitement that was in Quinn's voice.

Rachel thought about it for a second, this was finally her chance to bring glee closer, and despite how much she loved her new relationships with both Puck and Quinn, she longed still to be completely accepted in Glee. "I suppose I can work something out. And it isn't uncommon for teenagers to select what information to tell their parents."

"Perfect!" Quinn said wrapping her arms around Rachel, knocking her out of Puck's grasp, and nearly onto the floor.

Rachel wrapped her arms around the blond trying to keep them upright, "But we should focus on the showcase tonight before we can focus on our recreational activities."

Quinn groaned and pulled away and Puck smiled at Rachel, well, being Rachel.

~~~~*~~~~

By 6:45, the group number for the showcase had been polished and everyone was off doing last minute preparations for their own numbers. Quinn was happy that the only thing that Rachel was nit picking was some of the choreography.

From the corner of the room, Puck sat and watched Rachel guide Quinn through the steps she was missing and couldn't help but smile. Despite all the hurt that Quinn still felt, and even though he wouldn't admit it out loud, that he still felt from the loss of their relationship with Finn, watching Quinn smile, and with Rachel of all people, made him feel that everything was going to work itself out.

~~~~*~~~~

Santana had volunteered to perform first. She said that she wanted to do this and if she sat up there watching everyone else go first, she'd never get the courage go through with it.

_Can't breathe  
When you touch my sleeve  
Butterflies so crazy, mmm mmm  
Whoa now, think I'm going down  
Friends don't know what's with me, mmm mmm_

Since Rachel, Puck, Kurt, Quinn, and Finn weren't scheduled until the second half of the show, they were positioned in the front row to the right of the stage. Mr. Shuester, Ms. Pillsbury, Principal Figgins, and even Coach Sylvester sat behind them. Rachel watched as Santana, dressed in an outfit almost identical to the one in the video Fergie did (big hair, yellow dress, long black gloves). Rachel rather liked the look on Santana; it made her look less like the "mega-bitch" Puck claimed she was. She realized then that this was the first time she had really heard Santana sing on her own and was surprised that her talent was far greater than she had anticipated.

_You got me tripping, stumbling, flipping, fumbling  
Clumsy cause I'm falling in love  
You got me slipping, tumbling, sinking, fumbling  
Clumsy cause I'm falling in love  
So in love with you_

Rachel knew that the boy next to her, who was holding her hand, had once had a…relationship…with the Latina on stage. When Santana set her gaze in their direction, a small bit of jealousy went through her. Santana's eyes were filled with something sultry (and Rachel hoped that Santana was just performing). That was until she remembered that Santana was now in a relationship of sorts with Glee's own dim-witted blonde Brittany. While it was a secret that stayed within the members of New Directions, Rachel had never been more comforted by the fact that Santana would hopefully never be bothering Puck again. Everyone cheered for Santana as she curtsied and then left the stage.

~~~~*~~~~

As Matt took the stage Rachel wasn't exactly paying attention anymore, and mostly because of Puck. She had warned him adamantly before that show that their contact would be limited to hand holding, if, and only if, he were able to restrain himself. Rachel made sure that this disclaimer was intact because of an incident the week before which got them removed from the movie theatre. It wasn't so much what they were doing but the fact that Puck flipped the usher his middle finger when the gentleman asked politely that they refrain from their activity. Right now, Rachel was extremely distracted by the circle Puck was rubbing into the back of her hand and it took all of her energy just to at least look as if she was paying attention to Matt's performance.

_I know sometimes it's gonna rain,  
But baby can we make up now  
cause' I can't sleep through the pain  
girl I don't want to go to bed mad at you  
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me  
no I don't want to go to bed mad at you  
and I don't want you to go to bed, mad at me _

Rachel was extremely disappointed with herself letting Puck distract her this way. She found herself being rude. She expected her fellow glee club members to watch her performances tonight, and wanted to give them the same respect. However as Puck leaned over to kiss her behind her ear, It was becoming more and more difficult.

"Guys," Mr. Shuester said sharply, "Knock it off or you'll be separated."

Puck pulled away and smirked at Mr. Shuester before going to back to only entwining his fingers through Rachel's and laughed just a bit when Rachel's eyes matched the sharpness of Mr. Shuester's voice before clapping as Matt finished his performance.

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel was incredibly entranced and pleased with Mike's rendition of The Scripts "The Man Who Can't Be Moved" because it was one of Rachel's new favorites. She felt that Mike was doing an amazing job.

_'cause If one day you wake up and find that you're missing me  
And your heart starts to wonder where on this earth I could be  
Thinking maybe you'll come back here to the place that we'd meet  
And you'll see me waiting for you on our corner of the street  
So I'm not moving, I'm not moving,  
I'm not moving, I'm not moving_

Puck wasn't exactly thrilled when he saw Rachel's eyes light up at Mike's performance. She had sat through the last two performances without any special interest, now, she wasn't singing along with Mike but she was mouthing the words. Would she do that during his song? Would she look like this? Was he really getting jealous of Mike Chang? Would Rachel even be interested in Mike Chang? _"Dude, you're going to make yourself crazy. Stop thinking about her with out guys," _Puck thought to himself trying to keep himself from jumping up and dragging Rachel away. Rachel squeezed Puck's hand and he looked over to find her giving him an "is something wrong?" face. When he shook his head, Rachel smiled at him then went back to watching Mike. He would be asking her about her thought on Chang later.

~~~~*~~~~

_This is the man that I plan to entangle  
Isn't he fine?  
My claim to fame was to maim and to mangle  
Vengeance was mine  
But I'm out of the biz  
The name I made I'll trade for his  
The only trouble is...  
I'll never tell _

The only thing Puck knew about this song was that it was from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and that the show itself was pretty badass. However, watching Brittany and Artie up on stage, he remembered why he only watched this episode once. Brittany was taking the part of Anya and Artie was taking Xander's part. While Puck wasn't too thrilled about listening to another song that he had no interest in, Rachel was so excited. When both Artie and Brittany had asked her for help in choosing a duet, she named off everything from _Another Day _from RENT and _As Long As You're Mine _from Wicked, but as she was lost in her own thoughts, Artie and Brittany started talking about the Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon they were planning on having. The two had become good friends over their love for Sarah Michelle Gellar and the Willow and Tara romance, and Rachel was excited when she caught wind of their conversation and suggested, "I'll Never Tell". It was the only episode of Buffy that Rachel had watched when she stumbled across it on youtube. Brittany and Artie were both so excited and Rachel was proud to watch them perform it so spectacularly on stage.

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel had been really excited for Tina to sing a solo on the showcase. Despite her frustration over solos in the past, Rachel was looking forward to Tina finally getting her moment in the spotlight. Unfortunately, due to whatever problems were going on with Artie (everyone knew something was different, no one really knew what had happened). But Tina refused to sing a solo so instead Mercedes gave up her solo singing Rihanna's _Russian Roulette _to perform Brandy and Monica's _The Boy is Mine _with Tina.

_You need to give it up  
Had about enough (Enough)  
It's not hard to see  
The boy is mine (To see the boy is mine)  
I'm sorry that you (Sorry that you)  
Seem to be confused (Seem to be confused)  
He belongs to me (He belongs to me)  
The boy is mine_

As the girls finished their song, Mike, Matt, Santana, Brittany and Artie returned center stage to take a bow, signally the end of the first part of the showcase. Once the curtain closed, all the members of New Directions were to meet in the choir room. Following behind Mr. Shuester, Puck, Rachel, Quinn, Kurt, and then Finn (Finn making sure that he didn't have to walk next to Quinn) started down the hallway towards the choir room. Puck pulled Rachel to a stop for a moment before kissing her against a locker.

"Puck and Rachel, now!" Mr. Shuester called.

Puck rolled his eyes, grabbed Rachel by her hand, and led her down the hallway.

"You know Noah; I've never gotten in so much trouble from teachers until we started dating. You seem to be a bad influence on me." Rachel said.

"Baby, you knew I was a bad influence when you kissed me on that stage."

'I guess then I can't be angry, you did warn me.," she said laughing as they entered the choir room.

Those who had performed during the first half were greeted with hugs and congratulations on their outstanding accomplishment, but Mr. Shuester was quick to rally everyone together for one of his famous pep talks.

"Alright guys, the first half was amazing, I've heard nothing but good things from those I've spoken to. And although he might not always be our biggest supporter, Principal Figgins outside right now trying to create a music boosters program, so that we can get some of the funding we need, so you won't have to sell cupcakes every month," the club laughed as Mr. Shuester continued, "but we are going to need parents to help out, so please ask yours after the show. There is nothing more I can say to you about tonight. You are all fantastic and you have all grown so much as performers since the day you joined the club. So all I have to say is go out and show everyone what you've worked so hard on."  
New Directions applauded each other before making sure their hair and make up was perfect and heading back to the auditorium. This time, Rachel, Puck, Quinn, Finn and Kurt were waiting in the wings. As the show started again, it was Kurt's turn.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck sat on a stool, his arms wrapped around Rachel who was nestled against him. Rachel looked over at Quinn and Finn who just stood awkwardly before looking back towards the stage at Kurt.

_Something has changed within me  
Something is not the same  
I'm through with playing by the rules  
Of someone else's game  
Too late for second-guessing  
Too late to go back to sleep  
It's time to trust my instincts  
Close my eyes: and leap!  
_

A smile formed on Rachel's face as Kurt's very dream came true. Since they never used Defying Gravity at Sectionals, Kurt had assumed that Rachel was going to use this song in the showcase, but when Rachel announced her duet with Quinn instead, Kurt took the opportunity to finally get the spotlight.

_I'd sooner buy  
Defying gravity  
Kiss me goodbye  
I'm defying gravity  
And you can't bring me down; bring me down!_

As Kurt hit the high F, tears fell from Rachel's eyes. Defying Gravity was just as beautiful sung by a boy then it was if she had sung it herself. As Kurt came off stage, Rachel rushed to him wrapping her arms around him, she had never been so proud.

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel returned to her place with Puck, as it was time for Finn to take the stage. Since he wasn't talking to anyone who was standing their but Kurt, he said nothing before taking the stage. The music hit and Rachel took another glance at Quinn who was standing there with pain in her eyes.

_I want to scream, until no sound comes out and you've learned your lesson  
I want to swallow these pills to get to sleep  
So I don't have to make a bad impression_

_I need to start to be myself  
Cause I'm sick of everybody else_

It was obvious to everyone, that Finn had chosen a song that he could sing to Puck and Quinn. Rachel pulled Puck's tighter around her and noticing Quinn had taken a step closer to the couple reached out and grabbed her hand tightly.

_I took one big step and I looked away  
And then I thought of all the things that I wanted to say  
I'm always too late  
You never got your story straight  
I'm always up late  
I think I'm everything you hate_

I won't let you bring me down  
It's here and now, I'm breaking out  
I will learn to love again  
But I will stand a broken man

By the time Finn finished singing, Quinn was sobbing and Puck was holding on to Rachel for dear life. As Finn started coming off stage Rachel felt Quinn's hand slip from hers and Quinn disappeared. Rachel gave Finn a glare but he just walked past everyone and stood beside Kurt.

~~~~*~~~~

Quinn and Rachel were supposed to go on next. And Rachel looked at the three men in front of her in a panic.

"Noah, you have to go on now."

"Now?"

"I have to go find Quinn, I can't just go out there without her. Kurt we're going to need your help" Rachel said moving past everyone in search of her blonde friend, pulling Kurt behind her. Before Puck could argue Rachel and Kurt gone, leaving him staring at Finn. The audience had expected someone to be onstage now and Puck had to go out there and perform. Puck shook his head and Finn knowing that this was his fault. Okay, so maybe Puck wasn't entirely mad because he had to go onstage at that moment. The truth was, Puck wasn't singing Your Eyes from RENT like Rachel thought he was. He was singing a song that he had been working on with Mr. Shuester before the showcase had even been announced. And he had chosen tonight to perform it for her just like he had Sweet Caroline. And now here he was with a song, for Rachel, and Rachel was who knows where. Taking center stage could see the confusion on Mr. Shuester's face and just shrugged and started singing.

_Lately, I hear you callin' debating whether you are falling_

_This love won't benefit you but its good for me_

_Religion is what you believe, to save you from what you achieve_

_This blood was shed and it washes your conscious clean_

_But you give the most incredible feeling, I don't mind taking you troubles away_

_You will find me flying far from the real world, waiting again for you to tell me I'm not dreaming._

Rachel and Kurt found Quinn crying on one of the benches outside the auditorium. Rachel knew that words were going to help her friend, but instead sat down next to her and wrapped around her shoulders as Quinn fell against Rachel's shoulder, sobs shaking her body. Rachel could faintly hear Puck singing on stage and took her a moment to realize that it was his voice, but it wasn't the familiar song from RENT she had expected. Quinn pulled away from Rachel and forced a weak smile. The make up on her eyes had run down her cheeks with her tears and Quinn wiped them away looking at Rachel.

"We're supposed to be on stage right now." Quinn said afraid that Rachel was upset.

"Don't worry, I threw Noah out there. However, I do not hear anything that sounds like its coming from RENT coming from inside the auditorium."

Quinn's eye got wide, "You need to get back in that auditorium right now. Kurt, we need to fix my make-up, and we will meet you in there Rachel, but you have to get in there now!"

Rachel was completely shocked at Quinn's sudden change in attitude but she nodded and hurried into the back of the auditorium.

_But you give the most incredible feeling, I don't mind taking you troubles away_

_You will find me flying far from the real world, waiting again for you to tell me I'm not dreaming._

As Puck finished his song, Rachel realized that it was most definitely not RENT, and it wasn't a song she recognized at all. And she also realized that she had missed it. A rush of sadness came through her as the door behind her opened and Quinn and Kurt rushed through. Quinn looked perfect, like she hadn't cried a single tear, and Rachel was grateful for Kurt's almost magic like abilities. However, as the two girls rushed towards the stage, Rachel couldn't shake the fact that she missed her boyfriend's big performance. Rachel and Quinn arrived just as Puck was walking off stage. She flung her arms around him and kissed him.

"I'm sorry I missed that!" she said holding him close to her.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Quinn needed you."

"Play it again for me later?" she asked.

Puck nodded, "Now go out there and do what you do best," he said placing a quick kiss on her lips.

~~~~*~~~~

_I've heard it said  
That people come into our lives for a reason  
Bringing something we must learn  
And we are led  
To those who help us most to grow  
If we let them  
And we help them in return  
Well, I don't know if I believe that's true  
But I know I'm who I am today  
Because I knew you..._

Like a comet pulled from orbit  
As it passes a sun  
Like a stream that meets a boulder  
Halfway through the wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you  
I have been changed for good

In the center of the stage, Quinn and Rachel both sat on stools looking at each other. Rachel had been extremely excited when Quinn had agreed to sing something from Wicked and Rachel was even more when Quinn agreed to sing the part of Glinda and thought that _For Good_ was an excellent choice for both their talents. As she sang, Quinn looked at the friend in front of her. She appreciated all that Rachel had done for her, and even what she had done for Puck in the last couple of weeks. She had found a good friend in a person who she had once been cruel to. But she was changing, and she knew that part of it was due to the fact that she had lost her daughter, but part of it was the support that Rachel had given her. She was remembered as she sang how she was so upset that Puck had told Rachel about the baby, but in reality, it was one of the best things he had done. Rachel proved trustworthy and as Quinn's relationship with Finn disengaged, she was there to pick up the pieces.

_It well may be  
That we will never meet again  
In this lifetime  
So let me say before we part  
So much of me  
Is made of what I learned from you  
You'll be with me  
Like a handprint on my heart  
And now whatever way our stories end  
I know you have re-written mine  
By being my friend..._

Like a ship blown from its mooring  
By a wind off the sea  
Like a seed dropped by a sky bird  
In a distant wood  
Who can say if I've been changed for the better?  
But because I knew you

As Rachel sang, she looked at Quinn, happy for their newfound relationship. Just like she had done for Noah, she had forgiven all the bad deeds done by the blonde in order to create a great new relationship. Rachel thought that even though the lyrics of this song didn't exactly fit her relationship with Quinn at that very moment, she hoped that one day that they would. She was excited to have Quinn in her life, to finally have a girl friend who she could confide in. And _For Good _was about overcoming differences right? And Quinn and Rachel couldn't have started out this school year more different. As the song came to an end, the girls came together standing now, face to face.

_Because I knew you...  
I have been changed for good..._

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel felt Quinn's arms envelope her and she responded by wrapping her arms around the blonde who she could tell was crying over her shoulder. Rachel gave her a reassuring squeeze before Quinn pulled away and made her way off stage. Rachel stayed and sat back down on the stool as Puck joined her on stage, to sing Broken. This time there wasn't so much pain between the two, but just as every other time, their voices encompassed the emotion of the song and those in the audience who cried during _For Good_, were crying more. And some of those who hadn't cried now were. From their stools, they ended the song, hand in hand, holding tightly. It was simple, but it had everything Rachel wished and wanted in a performance. She felt the tingle of adrenaline during the song, the crowd was moved, and the applause at the end gave her such a rush. Puck and Rachel bowed to the crowd before standing center stage. Just like Rachel had done, alone, at Sectionals, Puck and Rachel introduced New Directions to their audience as the rest of the club joined the couple on stage for their performance of _You Can't Always Get What You Want_. It of course was choreographed better this time, but it still held the lose feel that New Directions embodied that night in front of all those people, and it still held the special something that one them first place. And just like the first time New Directions was received with a standing ovation. Family, friends, and other community members stood and applauded the amazing work that the twelve members of New Directions had put into their amazing performances. Mr. Shuester joined them on stage to celebrate yet another achievement. Rachel smiled as she looked at the other members of New Directions. There were so many obstacles that they had gone through, and some they still had to overcome, but right now, despite the separatism outside, she knew that no matter what they would all come together for their common purpose. And now they would have Regionals to worry about.

* * *

AN: So here is the song titles that the New Directions sang in this chapter: Santana: Clumsy-Fergie; Matt: Mad-Neyo; Mike: Man Who Can't Be Moved-The Script; Mercedes/Tina: The boy is mine-Brandy/Monica; Artie/Brittany: I'll never tell from Buffy TVS; Kurt: Defying Gravity-Wicked; Puck: Incredible Feeling-Jericho (that song was just screaming P/R to me); Rachel/Quinn: For Good-Wicked. I'll hopefully have the next chapter up in a few days but I work the full days the next couple of days, but I (hopefully) won't be taking this long to update again…okay I've talked to much

R&R!!!


	2. Chapter 2

AN: THANK You! Everyone for the reviews and the alerts and the favorites, it makes me happy that I used Glee to return to fan fiction and actually read and enjoy my writing. I knew that I wouldn't be able to reproduce the length of the first chapter, but I'm going to aim for the next couple chapters to be longer than this. Please Read and Review; reviews are like crack to me. I don't own Glee, its characters, or the beautiful song which belongs to the ever lovely Faith Hill.

* * *

Somehow, despite dating Rachel for weeks now was able to keep his secret viewings of her practicing in the auditorium a secret. Not only because he didn't want anyone to know about them, he didn't want Rachel to alter the way she sang because he had noticed a difference. When it was just them, Rachel seemed more self-conscious, like Puck's opinion was the most important in the whole world. Puck knew that no matter how self-conscious she was, she was still amazing.

Today, sitting in his normal hiding spot, he heard Rachel sit down at the piano bench and start to play. There wasn't anything particular that Puck had to figure out in his head, except maybe how he was going get Rachel to spend time doing something other than homework tonight; but he still happy for the sensation, of a completely non-sexual nature,(well not always) that Rachel's voice caused.

_Is it obvious to you  
When you walk into a room  
Your face is all I see  
And my heart races so fast  
I never knew a rush to feel like that  
Every time you're touching me  
I never did believe in anything  
I couldn't hold between my fingers  
But the way you make me feel  
It's just so real the way it lingers_

One thing Puck was definitely happy about were the happier songs that Rachel tended to sing during her lunchtime practices. And if you asked Puck every single one of them were because of him. Everything was perfect, obviously. Finn still wasn't talking to Quinn, Puck or Rachel, but he was showing up to Glee so that was enough to make everyone content. Puck hated watching Quinn whenever they were in the same room, the sadness on her face.

_I get lost inside your stare  
Lost when you're not there  
And everything I have  
Doesn't mean a thing if it's without you  
If it's a dream  
Don't wake me up  
I'll scream if this isn't love  
If bein' lost means never knowin' how it feels without you  
I wanna stay lost forever  
I wanna stay lost forever.. with you._

Rachel had been grateful that she had Puck and Quinn now because she lost one of the first friends she had made since joining Glee. But she understood why Finn was angry with her, but it had been so long since Sectionals that Rachel felt that it was time she made amends, for everyone. While she sang, she made a decision that today, she was going to talk to Finn, and she had to at least to try to get everything back to normal. It was getting a little aggravating for Mr. Shue to choreograph dance routines because four of the members of New Directions couldn't be anywhere near certain other people and Rachel could tell by the look on Mr. Shuester's face at the last rehearsal that he was getting frustrated. He had been so supportive of everything the teens were going through, but he was worried that that the sacrifices might prove detrimental to the performances and to winning. So finishing her song, Rachel left the auditorium with a plan. If Puck would have known what was going on as she sang the song, he thought was about him (because everything was right?), he would not have been so calm as he slipped out to meet Rachel at her locker.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck spent almost all of glee rehearsal just playing with Rachel's hair. He had enough attention focused on Mr. Shuester's speech about how they were going to have to step up their game if they wanted to do well at regionals, to be able to jump right back in if he needed to. But anything that Puck missed he knew Rachel would have locked into her pretty head and could probably recite it back to him verbatim. What he did catch was that they were doing Finale B from RENT for Regionals. Puck realized that once he started dating Rachel, he recognized more of the show tunes and Puck wasn't exactly sure how he felt about that. Mr. Shuester dismissed class and Rachel immediately turned to Puck.

"Hey, my dads are going to pick me up from school today. They wanted to do something with me this afternoon."

"Oh, alright." Puck said kissing her forehead, "call me when you're done?"

"Of course." Rachel said.

Puck got up and went over to Quinn and once the two were out of the room, Rachel noticed it was only herself, Mr. Shuester, and Finn. So maybe Rachel's dads didn't have anything special planned this afternoon, she just told them to pick her up because Puck had something to do. If she was going to start lying, she might as well lie to everyone. She noticed Finn start heading towards the door.

"Finn!" she called as Finn stopped in his tracks and Rachel crossed the room quickly to meet him, "Can I talk to you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." he said just standing there.

"So, I was thinking that seeing tomorrow is the beginning of the weekend and since football has finished for the season that you would like to come over for a little get together at my house."

"Like a glee thing?"

"Well, I suppose. I would be inviting Noah and Quinn but I suppose I could invite the rest-"

"Rachel," Finn said interrupting her, "Look, I get what you're trying to do. And I think maybe I was a little harsh or whatever on you after the whole lying thing. It wasn't you I was mad at, not really. I get that it wasn't up to you to tell me the truth."

"I really am sorry about that," Rachel said looking up at the freakishly tall boy in front of her.

"I know. But that's not the only reason I forgive you. We were friends, and you're going to need a friend again when Puck ends up disappointing you. He's good at all the screwing up and everything."

Hearing those words come out of Finn made Rachel angry, Finn was suppose to be Puck's best friend and now he stood in front of her spitting hateful things, "You were never this judgmental about him before Finn," Rachel pointed out.

"But he didn't sleep with my girlfriend before. And if he hasn't changed, he'll do it again. It won't be with my girlfriend, but it'll be someone else's and he'll hurt you."

"He has changed."

"Not completely. You see a side of him that he let's no one else but maybe Quinn see. But under it all he's still Puck, cougars and sexting included."

"Maybe. Maybe not. What if under all of Puck is where Noah is?"

"Maybe before, before all the Quinn baby stuff. But I don't think that's the case anymore."

"I think you're wrong Finn. And if you just talked to both of them I think that maybe-"

"Rachel, like I said, I can forgive you. But I can't forgive them, talk to them, anything. Not right now and I'm not sure if I ever can. Its hard enough sitting through glee without screaming" Finn said interrupting her again.

"Finn can you really stay mad at them forever?"

"Rachel, I get that you're their number one fan right now. But I can't, I thought about it but all I do is get really angry. Look Rachel, thanks for trying, I've got to run." Finn said turning and leaving the choir room and Rachel behind.

~~~~*~~~~

"You're going to mad at me," Rachel said sitting down at her computer later that night while on the phone with Puck.

"Well I can't tell you if I won't or not until you tell me what happened," he said laying back on his bed.

"So, while I don't condone lying I may have stretched the truth earlier,"

"About what?" Puck asked suspiciously.

"While it was true that my dads did pick me up from school, I asked them to."

Puck stayed silent to let her continue.

"I stayed after glee to talk to Finn. I'm just so sick of seeing you and Quinn so upset all the time and I know that it's because you both miss Finn and I thought that maybe if I talked to him and tried to come up with a reason for everyone to be in the same room he might agree and then that way maybe he could understand and forgive you and Quinn and everything can go back to the way it was," Rachel took a breath, "but unfortunately my efforts proved to be a failure since he was less than willing to compromise. I'm sorry."

"Rach, I really appreciate you trying to help. But I don't think you getting involved will make the situation any better. I thought he wasn't talking to you either?"

"Yes, well, I suppose now that would change,"

"Why?"

"Well, while Finn was very adamant on not reestablishing his relationships with both you and Quinn, he seemed willing to forgive my participation in the situation."

"That's good, Finn had no reason to be angry with you. Rach. You were good friends before," Puck said trying not to remember the day in the auditorium where he watched Finn ask Rachel out and then get mad at her.

"Noah, I don't think I could be friends with someone who is constantly slandering your name,"

"What?" Puck asked.

"Slandering Noah is when someone says untrue and hateful things about a person,"

"I know what it is Rachel. What did he say?"

"No. I can already hear the anger in your voice and I don't think its wise-"

"Rachel, just tell me."

Rachel moved from her desk to her bed, laying down on her stomach burying her face into her pillows, this was definitely not going to make things better, "He just said that he forgave me because I was going to need him when you hurt me. But Noah, I don't believe a word that came out of his mouth. They are instigated by his anger and I'm sure he didn't mean it."

"Maybe he's telling the truth,"

"Noah! What did I tell you about talking about yourself like that? I do not believe that you would intentionally hurt me in anyway, ever."

"That doesn't mean I won't hurt you," Puck said withdrawing. Rachel was right, he would never hurt her intentionally, but he seemed to make most of his mistakes unintentionally. And Puck was beginning to wonder just how long before something he did, or didn't do caused Rachel to run for the door.

"Noah, you really need to stop speaking like that. It scares me,"

"I'm sorry Rach. I have some homework I have to finish since I'm going to class now. I'll see you in the morning?"

"Of course. Goodnight Noah,"

"Sweet Dreams Rachel."

After getting off the phone, Rachel rolled over and stared at her ceiling. She knew she should have kept her mouth shut about the things that Finn had said to her. All it did was anger Puck further and she was beginning to see the side of Noah that he hadn't seen in weeks, the side that was insecure of himself. Finn was right that this was the side that he only showed to her, but she hated it. But there was truthfully too much negativity in glee and Rachel was determined to fix this. Picking her phone up one more time she sent another goodnight to Puck through text, just so he knew she was thinking about him. And then sent another text to Kurt: _Secret Emergency Meeting; Choir Room Tomorrow, lunchtime._ If he plan was going to work, she was going to need a partner in crime, and glee's other fashionable soprano was just the person.

* * *

AN: Angsty Puck is back! Gotta love it! I know this wasn't anything too major but it was needed to set some things up. The next chapter, if everything goes according to plan will have a lot going on so it might take longer to get it written and up, but I'm really looking forward to it. Remember to R&R because it makes me and the muses happy!


	3. Scavenger Hunt

AN: This was actually a lot easier to write than I had anticipated. I'm really excited to get into the conflict of this story, and I really like Rachel when she's meddling. And she has a lot of it coming up. Enjoy! And **Please** Read and Review…Oh…and I don't own Glee.

* * *

The next day in the choir room Rachel waited rather impatiently for Kurt. He was running late and since they only had this brief forty-minute period to get a whole evening planned out, Rachel knew that they needed every second. When Kurt came sauntering in five minutes after the period already started it took a lot of energy for her not to start berating him immediately. Instead, she added a simple "You're late" and watched as he rolled his eyes without offering an excuse.

"So, what is so important that we have to have this secret rendezvous?"

"I want to have a party. Tonight."

"And what exactly would be celebrating?"

"The football team and the cheerios have parties every Friday night just too simply have a party. Why can't we do the same?"

"So this would be what, a party for the entire school, or just glee?"

"While my dads have never verbally voiced the no parties rule while they are away, I do believe there would be a problem if we invited the entire student body. So members of New Directions only."

"I suppose that could be entertaining."

"More importantly," Rachel said, "It would be good for team morale. For us all to come together,"

"I knew there was something working inside your mind, spill."

"I have no idea what you are referring to Kurt,"

"You can't fool me Berry,"

"Kurt, I simply believe that a gathering with all of us will be beneficial for the amount of bad blood that exists,"

"So you're simply trying to put this humpty dumpty group back together?"

"Exactly,"

"Rachel, we are wasting time. Why don't you tell me what's really going on here?"

"Okay fine. I may have ulterior motives, like putting certain people back together,"

"Are we talking are we talking our quarterback and his ex leading lady, or glee's broken bromance?"

"Both. But right now more importantly Quinn and Finn. They will be the hardest to maneuver, but once that starts, the rest will fall into place."

"So what exactly do you have planned for them?"

"That's where you come in. But you should know that I am not against locking them in small spaces without food or water until they fix this."

"And you really think Quinn or Finn would be up for reconciling?"

"Quinn is. I know that for a fact. But I've tried talking to Finn and he is still too angry to talk to either of them."

"Rachel, while I am always the romantic; don't you think this might be a little too much. Especially if Finn already told you that he isn't ready for this."

"Kurt, Finn is hurting and he doesn't want to hurt more by facing his feelings about Quinn and Noah. But look what avoiding did to Noah and myself. It broke us down until Quinn had to lock us in an auditorium until we fixed things."

"Is there anything I can say to you to convince you this is a bad idea?" Kurt asked hesitantly.

Rachel shook her head.

"Alright fine," Kurt said, "But you're taking all the heat when this blows up in our faces."

Rachel nodded. She knew this was something that had to be pushed or it would never happen. Quinn, Finn and Puck would never make the moves on their own. They were too strong and too stubborn to do it. But Rachel refused to sit idly by as all three of them moped around sad so if it meant that they got mad at her for a little while, that was just fine. It would all be worth it in the end. Quinn was quickly becoming the best friend she ever had, and Puck meant the world to her. And this was the kind of things you did for your friends and your boyfriend: anything possible to make them happy. So as Rachel and Kurt sat on the choir room floor discussing decorations and activities and food choices, she felt that this was the right thing that no matter what happened, everything would work out. Okay, she really didn't know that, she could only hope that Finn understand that this was a party for unity and show up. Rachel decided as the bell rang that more than getting Finn and Quinn back into each other's arms, it was important to get Finn into the same room as Quinn and Puck.

~~~~*~~~~

Sitting in English class, Puck was having a difficult time paying attention. Not because he didn't exactly want to be there, but because he was too busy thinking about the phone conversation he had with Rachel the night before. He wondered if he was the only one who saw that Rachel was changing. It wasn't really a bad change, but the first time he noticed it was when she announced that she wouldn't be doing a solo at the showcase. The dropped jaws of everyone in the choir room were a clear indication that her actions were definitely not like Rachel. She still had the fire inside her when she sang, and he noticed it the most when he was listening to her in the auditorium. But today, he sat in the auditorium for almost a half hour before he realized that Rachel wasn't coming. When he went to the lunchroom, he saw a lunch table full of the members of New Directions, but no Rachel. No one seemed to have seen her; they all expected her to be in the auditorium. So as the bell rang he couldn't find her at her locker either. So sitting in class avoiding a lecture on Shakespeare, Puck remembered the words Finn had told him during Sectionals; and the words Rachel said he had told her the day before. It was hard for him to hide it, and he knew that Rachel could hear the insecurity in his voice. But he did truly wonder if he was going to hurt Rachel, and he thought it might be a long shot, but what if Rachel wasn't singing solos because of him. What if somehow Rachel knew Puck was holding her back, and she was taking the spotlight off of herself because she no longer longed for it. There were two things Rachel did that made one afraid; not talk and not take any and all solos available to her.

Somewhere inside him, Puck knew that he was just being hard on himself, but he couldn't help but think that it was appropriate. Before Rachel there was exactly one person that Puck could rely on to understand him, Finn. But now that Finn had thrown every single thing he's done wrong in his life in his face, he wasn't sure of himself. (Badass or not, Puck was currently harboring a lot of inner turmoil). He's happy it's the weekend, he's happy that he can spend the entire weekend with Rachel, and push all of this doubt out of his head, because Rachel believes in him, and he eats up just about anything that Rachel says. (He's still getting used to the idea that he's whipped). Puck pulls his phone out of his pocket and notices he has a text. It's from Rachel and he smiles, but only until he reads the contents._ Glee Party at my house tonight, 8 o'clock. I expect all of you there!-Rachel. _Puck frowned. He remembered asking Rachel to stay out of everything last night, but she, in true Rachel Berry fashion, was continuing until she got what she wanted, despite what it took to get there. If anything, he could say that his girl was still determined as ever.

~~~~*~~~~

By eight, all the members of New Directions were sitting in Rachel's living room, except Puck and Finn. Puck had sent a text message twenty minutes ago saying that he was going to be late because he had to wait for his mom to get home so he wasn't leaving his sister home alone. Finn on the other hand, Rachel hadn't heard from. Kurt promised to send him a text if he wasn't there by nine. Rachel went into the kitchen to prepare more snacks, Kurt following right behind her.

"You know, this is working, for those who are here."

"I knew it would. Noah will be here soon, but it's not him we have to worry about."

"And what do we do if Finn shows up? Let him sit uncomfortably while the rest of us enjoy ourselves?"

"I have an arsenal of team building games,"

"We aren't in kindergarten Rachel. You're going to need more than video games and dictionary."

"What about a scavenger hunt? You can get lists online and we can search the neighborhood, and my house. And then afterwards we can make a fire in the yard and just have a big jam session, I'll text Noah and make sure he brings his guitar."

"We can go to the park and there is that strip mall not too far from here, it can be walked to easily."

"And a prize?"

"I don't know. This isn't about prizes Kurt, it's about being a group. Togetherness remember?"

"Alright, maybe this could be fun," Kurt said as the doorbell rang.

Rachel rushed through the boys sitting on the floor playing video games towards the door fully expecting Noah, upset that she hadn't gotten a moment to text him about his guitar. But when she opened the door, she found a tall, lanky Finn standing in her doorway. She moved aside allowing him entrance to her house and Rachel couldn't help but notice Quinn tense on the couch. She had been talking to Santana and Mercedes but she stopped mid sentence as she watched her ex-boyfriend walk into the house.

"I'm glad you came, Finn. Kurt and I have planned some activities that will hopefully be entertaining." Rachel said, "We're just waiting on Noah. Make yourself at home."

Finn immediately took an interest in the video game that Matt and Mike were playing and sat down next to Artie who was catching him up on what had happened so far. Rachel was a bit relieved as she quickly sent her text to Puck as she watched everyone at least in the same room. Mission one: Accomplished.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck arrived just after eight-thirty, guitar in hand. Quinn had answered the door before joining the rest of the girls on the couch. He walked through the group of gleeks, the girls talking about whatever it was that girls talk about, the boys enthralled in the video game. He was shocked to see Finn sitting there. He went into the kitchen to greet Rachel and Kurt looking at Rachel's laptop.

"Hey," Puck said leaning down and kissing Rachel, "what are we doing?"

"Where's mine Puckerman?" Kurt said teasing.

"Dream on Hummel."

"Kurt and I were looking up lists for scavengers hunts." Rachel said clicking on another page.

"Unfortunately none of these look at all interesting," Kurt added.

"Since you're working with a glee club, why not make it music related." Puck suggested.

"How could we do that?"

"I don't know, we have to look for things that remind us of songs we've sung for glee, and we can even get video or pictures of us singing at people's doors."

"Noah, that's a great idea. Let's get started before it's too late to knock on doors." Rachel said jumping from her seat kissing Puck on the cheek as she ran past him into the living room where Mike had just beat Matt again.

"Alright everyone. I have an activity that I feel will be rather interesting and will be a good chance for some of us to work together," Rachel announced to her guests.

Rachel continued to explain the rules. They had to find things that reminded them of the title or the lyrics of ten of the songs they had sung, or someone in glee has sung. They were going to split into three groups. Whoever came back with ten pictures, items, etc, were able to choose the first song they sang later that night.

"Alright, Artie, Tina, Brittany and Santana. Mike, Matt, Kurt and Mercedes. This leaves myself, Noah, Finn and Quinn." Rachel looked up immediately at Finn who looked less than pleased, but showed no signs of bolting and not coming back.

Everyone parted on their way through the neighborhood, but not before warning the group which houses they should avoid. The first house had a kind old couple whom Rachel knew was already sleeping and she didn't want to bother them. The second were the neighbors who were filing a lawsuit.

Rachel dragged her three partners immediately to the house of the couple who she knew loved to hear her sing. Knocking on the door Rachel turned back to her group.

"I believe that we should sing, "Don't Stop Believin', but I'd like to sing back up."

"Rachel, you're the only one who knows the lead," Puck said.

"That's not true. While I took that brief hiatus from glee I believe that Quinn took my place as lead,"

"Rachel-" Finn started as Mr. and Mrs. Anderson opened the door.

"Mr. and Mrs. Anderson. I hope you are well this evening. We were wondering if we could have just a few moments of your time to perform something for you."

"Sure Rachel, of course," Mrs. Anderson said.

Rachel pulled out her phone and turned on the camera and looked at both Finn and Quinn. Finn looked unhappy and Quinn just looked a little embarrassed but Rachel hoped that if Finn and Quinn could do this together, then they could do just about anything. And they sang, with only half the amount of enthusiasm that Rachel would have hoped but she was taking what she could at this moment. When they finished Mr. and Mrs. Anderson applauded them and they went on there way.

~~~~*~~~~

Down the block, Kurt and Mercedes were walking, arms linked, behind Mike and Matt who seemed to be really excited about the scavenger hunt.

"I'm surprised Finn even showed up. But I'm tired of walking on eggshells around Quinn, Finn, Puck, and Rachel."

"If Rachel's plan works, we won't have to anymore."

"Rachel has a plan?"

"One that will probably blow up in her face, but it might work."

"And why wasn't I brought in to consult on this?"

"Because, despite Finn's obvious teenage angst towards Rachel, Quinn, and Puck, he's actually talking to me more than anyone else in the club."

"I suppose," Mercedes started and then looked in at the yard of one of the people in Rachel's neighborhood and found that they had left their remote control car on the front lawn, "look, Tyco, from Gold Digger "

Matt and Mike walked over and joined Mercedes, "But we've never done Gold Digger Mercedes," Matt said.

"We used it to rehearse once, before when it was just the six of us. Wow that seems like so long ago,"

"Because it was. We've grown a hell of a lot since then. Now that we have this lets go. I really don't feel like losing to Rachel today." Mercedes said linking her arm with Kurt's and pushing her group down the street.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck, Rachel, Quinn, and Finn were the first to return to Rachel's house, but they still didn't have everything, they were missing just one more song. Finn seemed to have relaxed a bit while they found clues that reminded mostly of songs that Rachel had sang, he was even making suggestions and making random comments. Rachel was proud that there was some sort of progress. Suddenly it hit her what they could use to win the scavenger hunt.

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before," Rachel started the other three looking at her, "My dads have a copy of the Neil Diamond album with Sweet Caroline on it. Quinn, I think it's in the spare bedroom upstairs, could you and Finn go look, while Noah and I look down here, I'm not exactly sure where it is."

Quinn nodded and moved to head up the stairs, Finn following right behind her.

"You don't have any records down here Rachel." Puck exclaimed after the other teens were securely upstairs.

"Yes, but they don't know that. And if I know that room like I do," Rachel stopped as upstairs a door slammed shut and Rachel reached over to turn the stereo on, "They will be up there for a while."

"And you're just going to leave them up there? Rachel I don't know if that is the best idea."

"Finn's already coming around, he isn't completely ignoring you and Quinn, and I think I heard something directed at Quinn."

"Rachel, you can't meddle in this. I don't think that you will be helping,"

"But I have to try Noah. What else can I do?"

"Sit and wait for Finn to come around. You can't force him into this Rachel."

"When you and I couldn't be in the same room without our hearts breaking, what did we need to get through to each other?" Rachel didn't let Puck answer before she continued, "We needed to be locked in the auditorium until we fixed it. We would never have done it on our own and we needed someone to push us."

"That may be true for us babe, but it doesn't mean its going to work on everyone,"

"Don't you want everything to be okay again Noah?"

Puck wrapped his arms around Rachel, "Of course I do. Thank you for trying," he said kissing her cheek, "I just don't want you to be upset when this all doesn't work out the way you wanted it to."

Before Rachel could say anything, the other eight members of the glee club came through the door. Kurt, Mercedes, Mike and Matt elated at the fact that they were actually able to complete their mission. However, Artie, Tina, Brittany and Santana mentioned how they felt like failures. Rachel knew the only way they could win is to let Quinn and Finn out of the guest room, but she was willing to lose this one for the sake of her other project.

"And we thought that we won," Mercedes said.

"Well I suppose you have. Quinn and Finn are off finding something but since you have returned before then it would only be proper that yourself, Kurt, Mike and Matt be declared the winners."

Mercedes group exchanged high fives. Everyone seemed to settle back into the house listening to the music on the stereo. (Kurt made sure that all of Rachel's CDs were removed from the player before the party even started). Mercedes and Santana were trying to see if they could come up with a way to turn the Beyonce song around to work for glee club. Puck pulled Rachel into the kitchen.

"Go let them out,"

"It'll be just another moment. If they truly want to escape that room I'm sure that Finn can get them out of there."

"Rach-"

Rachel chooses that moment to throw her arms around Puck's neck and kissed him hard. Puck was a bit upset that Rachel was ignoring him by going this way, but what teenage boy was going to deny a little make out session with his really hot girlfriend? Puck pulled away when he heard footsteps coming down the stairs. The couple moved back into the living room to find Quinn and Finn coming down the stairs, the Neil Diamond album in Finn's hand.

"Didn't you hear us banging on the damn door? The door slammed shut and got stuck on us." Quinn said.

"And neither of us had our cells on us," Finn added.

"Oh, I completely forgot about that. I'm sorry," Rachel lied, "I just thought you were still looking. But we've lost regardless.

No one said anything else as Quinn and Finn integrated themselves back in with the other members of the club. Puck and Rachel put together a fire in the yard and placed chairs around. With Puck's guitar, New Directions filled the rest of their night with music. And Rachel couldn't help but send smiles to both Puck and Kurt when he could see that there were looks being exchanged by Quinn and Finn. They were both involved in music, and it felt like it was just as fun as the jam session during the 'Sue Sylvester Detour' as Mr. Shuester had fittingly labeled it. _'There is no way that this plan can go wrong, they've already been pushed together by me, its only a matter of time before one of them make a move' _Rachel thought.

Sitting across from Finn, Quinn watched a smile play on his face. She remembered then why she fell in love with him in the first place. It was then she plastered a fake smile on her face. Looking over and Rachel and Puck she was envious. Not because Rachel had Puck, but that they both had someone who was there for them, and to be all cute and coupley with. She was always the third wheel around them and it wasn't like they ignored her or anything, she just wished she had someone to hold onto when they held onto each other. She wanted Finn. Quinn knew exactly what Rachel was doing. Rachel wasn't being very subtle. But she welcomed it, even though Finn was fighting her. It took locking Rachel and Puck in an auditorium to make them work, and if Rachel had to lock her in a bunch of rooms to get Finn talk to her, she was ready for that to happen. She just wished that Finn hadn't kissed her when they were locked upstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: I didn't think I was ever going to finish this but I think I was inspired by Glee winning the Golden Globe for Best Television Comedy/Musical! Congrats to everyone on the show! Although I do believe that Jane Lynch was robbed for her award. Thank you to those who have been leaving reviews. They really do make my day to know someone is enjoying something that I have created. On that note, CONTINUE! Or if you haven't yet, START!

* * *

Sitting on her bed, Quinn held her head in her hands and cried. It wasn't the cry of someone who was hurt, even though she was; it was the cry of someone who was faced with a situation and the only thing she could think of doing to make herself feel better was to cry. She was grateful that her father was away on a business trip and her mother at a girl spa weekend. She had already had enough of them since she moved back into her house. Her mother was still as emotional detached and her father still barely spoke to her. They had welcomed their no longer pregnant teenager back into their home, but by no means did it feel like a home. Quinn grabbed her phone off her nightstand and called the only person she knew could help her in this situation.

"Hey, can you come over? It's important." Quinn said the tears falling freely from her eyes and when the person on the other end agreed, she hung up.

Pulling herself out of bed, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her face was red and splotchy and her eyes were blood shot considering she had been crying for hours and had barely slept the night before. Her hair was all out of place, so she picked up a hair tie from her dresser and pulled her blonde locks up into a bun high upon her head. She tried to make herself as presentable as possible but she didn't care. When the doorbell rang, she wiped the last of the fresh tears from her cheeks and headed down to the door. Opening the door, the tears cascaded down Quinn's cheeks and she saw Rachel on the other side of the door with a smile that quickly faded. Immediately Rachel pushed her way into the house and pulled Quinn into a tight embrace. Rachel held Quinn as she began to sob again, holding on tightly to Rachel's petite form.

"What happened?" Rachel said as Quinn pulled away from her.

Quinn pulled Rachel into her living room and remembers the last time she cried inside that room. It was after Finn had sung to her in her dinning room and had outed her pregnancy to her parents. The tears that fell from her eyes now hurt almost as much as being rejected by her parents, maybe more, maybe the same; Quinn wasn't sure. But as she sat down on the couch, Rachel sat across from her, silently willing her friend to tell her what was making her so upset.

"Rachel, when we weren't friends you were really good at not judging me for my really stupid mistakes. So I really need to not be judged because I don't think I can handle another person be disappointed in my right now."

"Quinn, of course I will not judge you. We are friends." Rachel said reaching out and grabbing Quinn's hand.

Quinn closed her eyes trying to stop the constant flood of tears from her eyes. The feel of Rachel's hand gave her the strength she needed to speak, "I slept with Finn."

Rachel's eyes were wide but she held on firmly to Quinn's hand knowing that she promised no judgment. Not that she would judge her for this, Rachel knew that Quinn was madly in love with Finn, and this would have been great for her little plan, but the tears on Quinn's face made it clear that this was not something to be celebrating.

"When?" Rachel inquired.

"Sunday night," Quinn said.

Rachel looked at the pain in her friends face and wondered why she hadn't seen it sooner. If this had happened Sunday night, she had gone the entire week at school without anyone noticing her torment. Rachel felt like such a horrible friend.

"It all started at your party," Quinn continued, "When you were obviously playing matchmaker between Finn and I. And I just played along because I really wanted it to work, and I know Finn knew what you were up to, but it was working and then we were locked in the study upstairs. And then we realized that you either didn't hear us banging on the door or were ignoring us so we started fighting because I tried to take advance of the opportunity to talk to him but he was just raising his voice at me and then I kind of back off and the next thing I know he was kissing me. And the he must have had some kind of epiphany or something because he pulled away and then suddenly we could open the door."

"Quinn, why didn't you say anything sooner,"

"Because I didn't know what to think about it. And then Saturday he called me and asked if I wanted to come over and just hang out on Sunday and I couldn't help but say yes. I've wanted this for so long Rachel. I wanted him back in my life, for him to at least try to forgive me. I wanted him to be my friend if anything. I was willing to ignore the kiss if only we could be friends again. But we were watching a movie, and then we were making out, and the next thing I know…"

"Quinn you don't have to tell me anymore."

"It's not even the fact that we slept together that's got me so upset. It's the fact that we slept together and now he's gone back to not talking to me. I tried calling him later that night after I left his house and he didn't pick up. I tried to talk to him at school and during Glee all week but he keeps ignoring me and I don't know what to do because every time that when it comes to sex I keep making these really big mistakes that end up hurting myself in the process. I'm sorry to dump this all on you Rachel. But I can't exactly go to Santana or Brittany or Puck, because the girls don't seem to care enough anymore and I know Puck doesn't want to hear about this."

"Hey, "Rachel said moving closer to Quinn and pulling her in for another hug, "You are allowed to dump this stuff on me. We're friends."

And this time, Quinn didn't cry. Because there was nothing left to cry about. Talking to Rachel had some of the constriction in her chest fade and the pain was becoming almost bearable, almost. After Rachel sent a text to Puck cancelling their plans that afternoon, the girls spent the day watching sappy romantic movies, eating ice cream, and painting toenails. Rachel was at a loss for the words that would help Quinn. This was what friends did in these situations right? She had never been in this situation; she didn't know the right words to say to make it better. (Were there even such words). Rachel was once friends with Finn, but the Finn she knew, the Finn she once had deep feelings for would never have done this to Quinn. He would never have left her with her tears and nothing else. Rachel realized in that moment that maybe Puck was right; maybe her meddling wasn't the right thing. In truth, she felt partially responsible for the state Quinn was currently in. If she hadn't sent them up there the whole chain of events would never have occurred. Maybe this was the warning she needed to back off.

~~~~*~~~~

"Alright guys. We have two of our selections for regionals, but we need one more. I have a few ideas of where I want to go with the final selection. I have two pieces, one we will work on next week, and the other we will work on the week after. So this weekend, two of you will have to prepare a duet." Mr. Shuester said passing sheet music to Puck and Finn. Everyone looked around confused except for Kurt who looked pleased, and Rachel who look just horrified. How could she have forgotten about this? Last week in the midst of her meddling (which she had given up cold turkey) she had made a suggestion to Mr. Shuester that "What You Own" from RENT was a perfect song to demonstrate the unique and different talents of both Puck and Finn whilst capturing the essence of what the relationship between the boys once was. And now he was finally taking one her sixty five proposals seriously and she sat her seriously wishing he hadn't.

Puck looked down at his music and looked up at Mr. Shuester, "Shouldn't I be singing Mark's part. I am a Jew."

There were a few gasps from the rest of the club but then a silence fell over the room. Puck looked around to see everyone, including Rachel, staring at him like he'd grown another head.

"What?" Puck said, "I'm dating Rachel. Enough said."

Rachel's jaw drop and she smacked him in the arm. He looked at her and smiled at the sad look on her face. Puck brought his arm up and wrapped it around Rachel's shoulders pulling her close to kiss her on the temple then whispering in her ear so only she could hear, "I never said that was a bad thing."

Rachel smirked but stayed comfortably nestled against Puck's shoulder. Why hadn't either of the boys commented on the fact that they were singing together? And why had no one else commented that this song was only for two voices? She expected at least Mercedes to have some kind of objection, she kind of hoped for it at this point.

"Puck," Mr. Shuester interjected trying to get back on task, "while you have a personal connection to the character of Mark, I felt that Roger's part was more in tune with your vocal strengths, and Mark's with Finn's."

Puck looked over at Finn and for the first time he realized that Finn wasn't looking at him like he wanted to kill him. Aside from that one time right after Quinn had lost her baby, Finn had one look for Puck.

"I'm going to cut rehearsal a little early today," Mr. Shuester said, "But Puck and Finn I expect you both to rehearse this and come in ready to work on this Monday. And I will also have the music for our other option then."

Everyone got up and scurried out of the room, except for Puck, Rachel and Quinn who were riding home together. Mr. Shuester had never left class so quickly and Puck stared at the door confused.

"I think he might have a date with Ms. Pillsbury," Quinn said responding to Puck's confusion.

"Nice." Puck said in response before turning to Rachel, "This was you're doing, the song I mean."

"You heard Mr. Shuester, this was his idea." Rachel said hoping Puck couldn't hear the guilt in her voice.

"No it wasn't. It was yours."

"Noah, you have no proof."

"Yes I do. That spiel Mr. Shuester just gave me about my voice being better for Roger's part. That was the same thing, almost verbatim that you said to me after we watched RENT. I thought you said you were done meddling."

"I'm sorry Noah! I forgot that Kurt had talked to Mr. Shuester about this. It was last week and I have stopped meddling. I didn't think he'd do it anyway. He's rejected every other idea that I've ever given him."

"Wait, Hummel's involved in your plotting?"

"I needed some help," Rachel said.

"Rachel-" Puck started.

"Noah, since when are you one to give lectures? I'm sorry, alright. I forgot this was part of the plan. But was it really such a big deal? Finn didn't throw a fit so that has to be a good sign right?" Rachel asked looking both to Puck and Quinn for an answer.

"Rach, I think what Puck is saying-" Quinn started.

"Let me tell her what I'm saying Quinn," Puck interrupted looking back at Rachel, "What I'm saying is that you doing this makes me feel like a puppet. And I'm sure if Finn was a little less dumb he would feel the same way. We've had this conversation already Rachel. You just need to not make this one of your obsessions,"

Rachel's face dropped. Puck had never talked to her like this. He wasn't yelling at her, but it was clear from his voice that he was upset with her. Rachel had been telling the truth, she had forgotten all about the duet between Finn and Puck. Since the very second that Quinn told her what happened with Finn, she had let everything else go. She saw the error in her way and was working on correcting the situation. But now as Puck looked at her his eyes were different, they weren't the soft green eyes she had come to rely on. Rachel knew she deserved some of it, but she was trying to make it better. But Puck wasn't exactly being the most understanding person.

"Can you just take me home?" Rachel said.

Puck nodded and went to grab Rachel's bag for her but she scooped it up quickly and threw it over her own shoulder and headed out the door.

The car ride home was long, silent and awkward. Rachel knew she was probably making things worse but if Puck got to act on his emotions, so was she. If Puck got to be upset with her actions, even though they were done with the best intentions, Rachel was allowed to be hurt by his words. After dropping Quinn off, Puck pulled into Rachel's drive way. He looked at her, opened his mouth to say something and then closed it. Rachel wasn't looking at him, just straight ahead. Puck knew he hurt her with his words and his lashing out, but it wasn't intentional. He meant it, not the obsession part, but the part about him being a puppet. When Rachel did things behind his back he stopped having control of the situation and he wouldn't admit it to her but that scared him. If she had control she had control to hurt him, to ruin him. Not that Puck thought Rachel would, he just needed to have at least a sense of what was going on in his life.

Puck turned his truck off and the couple sat in silence for a moment before Puck finally spoke.

"Are we going to talk about this or just sit here in silence?"

"I'm not sure if talking is going to help right now. I feel that anything we say to each other right now will just be a continuation of our discussion from the choir room, and that will prove to not be beneficial for the situation."

'So we're just going to sit here?"

"No. I'm going to go inside and you're going to go home."

Puck just nodded as Rachel grabbed her bag and opened the door to the truck. Standing outside she looked back at Puck.

"I'll call you later," she said shutting the door.

Puck started the truck again as he watched Rachel get safely inside her house before he backed out and headed home. Regardless of his thoughts on the situation, Puck did indeed have a duet to rehearse that he had to perform on Monday. It didn't seem like a good idea to invite Finn over to rehearse, so he was going to have to do it himself. Without Finn, and without Rachel. _Without, Rachel. _Now that was a scary thought.


	5. Show Me You're Imperfect Too

AN: Thank you to those who reviewed the last chapter!! I really appreciate hearing what everyone thinks. Please continue, or start, either works with me. So if you haven't noticed I use a lot of songs from RENT in my stories. Probably because I'm a gleek and a renthead. But, if you've seen the stage version of the musical, while Finn and Puck and singing, try picturing Puck with the Mohawk and the plaid pants! I did the first time I realized that Puck was going to be singing Roger's part. And for that part of this chapter, the lyrics in _italics_ are sung by Finn, the **bold** lyrics and Puck and the _**bold italics **_are both of them together.

* * *

Saturday morning Rachel sat in her bedroom staring at her phone. She was upset that she had spent Friday night inside, alone. Girls with boyfriends do not spend Friday nights alone she kept telling herself, which was making her more upset than she was, or should be. She had chosen to just send Puck a text telling him that she was going to bed early and wasn't in the mood to talk. Which was the truth. Except for the fact that Rachel could barely sleep because she was too busy running through everything and over analyzing everything and worrying if this was going to break her and Puck up. Rachel wasn't necessarily upset anymore. Well she would be until he apologized. But that night there wasn't anything to say. But she knew she had to apologize too; she just wasn't sure how.

Rachel's dads were at work for a few more hours and she figured it would probably be best to deal with Puck while they had the time alone. She picked up her phone, sending him a text asking if he could come over. And then she waited. A million things running through her head. A million questions all caused by over thinking and always expecting people to hurt her and leave her. When he finally responded saying he'd be there in twenty minutes, Rachel leaped out of bed and got dressed. She finished just as the doorbell rang and she practically flew down the stairs but once she hit the bottom, she hesitated to open the door, she was too afraid of how this conversation was going to end.

Rachel opened the door to reveal Puck standing there, his hands tucked into the pockets of his letterman jacket. Rachel moved aside to let him in and the two stood awkwardly in the foyer. Neither of them looking at each other, just anything else in the room. Rachel moved past Puck and into her living room, hoping Puck would follow. Rachel was relieved when he did. She sat down on her couch, Puck, taking off his jacket sat down next to her. This time they were looking at each other."

"I'm sorry," they both said at once.

Rachel and Puck both let out a small laugh. "You first," Puck said.

Rachel sighed, "I'm sorry for all the meddling I've been doing. Honestly I thought I was helping but it is evident from the mess Finn has made with Quinn that it was not the right thing, although I did not predict or even wish the events that came from my involvement in both Finn and Quinn's lives." Rachel said looking Puck directly in the eye the entire time. Her years of training included understanding that keeping eye contact with the person was key to making your point. So maybe that logic was supposed to be applied to auditions and interviews, but Rachel felt that this moment held an equal importance.

"What are you talking about? What happened between Finn and Quinn?"  
"I'm not sure that she wants you to know, so don't tell her I told you. Look I've finally got a girl friend, a best friend potentially and I really don't want her to not trust me because I told you this, because I don't want to keep things from you. Not that it's something you are personally effected by. And you really shouldn't even think much of it. And please don't get upset and go try getting some kind of revenge-"

"Rach-" Puck said as a sign to just get to the point.

"Finn and Quinn slept together. And now Finn isn't talking to Quinn."

"That bastard. Why didn't Quinn tell me?"

"She wasn't exactly sure that you wanted to hear about her involvement in such activity."

Puck sat for a minute trying to wrap his head around the idea that Finn was actually a bigger asshole than he had thought. But then he looked at Rachel and remembered why he had come over. Puck looked at Rachel. He wanted to get this over with. One reason was that he wasn't good with all this feelings business, and the second that he just wanted his girlfriend back.

"I'm sorry too," Puck, said getting the conversation back on track, "I didn't mean what I said about the obsession thing. I kind of like that you obsess over things, especially when it's me. And I'm not good at this feelings thing, but I just didn't like not having control. I haven't exactly been in a relationship before this, unless you count Santana, but that wasn't like this at all. And I've been able to control my life without worrying about other people, except for maybe my mom and my sister and-. I'm sorry alright. I'm glad that you cared enough about me to meddle."

"Of course I do. If you want I'll tell Mr. Shuester on Monday that the duet was a bad idea."

"Don't you dare," Puck said, "I spent all last night going over this and if Finn is willing to pull this off on Monday, I'll be ready."

"You worked on it?"

"Yeah. Well I thought if Mr. Shuester was going to finally going to try one of your ideas, I should at least be an active participant."

"Oh Noah," Rachel exclaimed throwing her arms around Puck's neck hugging him tightly. She was happy that he was going to do this for her, despite the fact that it meant that he would have to work with Finn if Mr. Shuester decided that this song was what we needed to do for regionals. Puck wrapped his arms around Rachel, glad that the tension seemed to have escaped from the situation.

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel and Puck spent the rest of Saturday making out. Well, they made out and then Rachel forced him to practice _What You Own _with her. So as they walked into glee on Monday, Puck was more than prepared. Rachel was less than thrilled that there wouldn't be any real choreography for this song, but she knew that Puck had seen the movie and that if Mr. Shue chose this song, he would be more than able to figure something out. The big question though was if Finn had taken this assignment as serious as Puck, only through Rachel's inspiration, had.

Puck was enjoying the feeling of Rachel's head against his shoulder. Ever since their little disagreement (it was not a fight) he was enjoying what he had a little bit more. If he weren't trying to get back into Finn's good graces, he would have cursed him because the moment he walked in the room, Rachel straightened. Finn walked in just as he had during every other practice since baby gate exploded; He didn't look at really anyone, he just continued past everyone to his seat. Puck and Rachel exchanged a worried expression as Mr. Shuester walked into the room, a huge smile on his face. Rachel took notice and assumed that his date with Ms. Pillsbury had gone well. She was happy for him. After Mr. Shuester placed his bags on top of the piano, he turned to the group.

"Alright. So today, we will start with What You Own, and then I will give you the music for our second option for regionals. We will start going over that tomorrow and by the end of the week, we should have a good idea of our set list. So Puck, Finn, are you ready?"

"Yep," Puck said turning to Finn who was already out of his seat and heading towards the front of the room.

Giving Rachel a look that could only mean here we go Puck joined Finn at the front. The song didn't have a piano part so out from the piano came Brad, who sat behind them with a guitar on his knee. The other members were a little confused, seeing they had only known that Brad was a pianist, but when he started playing, they accepted his many talents. Finn and Puck exchanged a look during the intro before Finn started singing.

_Don't breathe too deep  
Don't think all day  
Dive into work  
Drive the other way  
That drip of hurt  
That pint of shame  
Goes away  
Just play the game_

You're living in America  
At the end of the millennium

You're living in America  
Leave your conscience at the tone

And when you're living in America  
At the end of the millennium  
_You're what you own_

Puck watched as Finn delivered his part just as he had for any of this other glee performances, like the male lead that he was. What Puck or anyone else didn't know is that Puck's admission of watching RENT had made Finn go home and watch it himself; this had become one of his favorite songs. As Finn finished Puck gave a look around the room stopping at Rachel who looked pleased before starting.

**The filmmaker cannot see**

_And the songwriter cannot hear_**  
**  
**Yet I see Mimi everywhere**

_Angel's voice is in my ear_

**Just tighten those shoulders  
**  
_Just clench your jaw till you frown_

**Just don't let go**  
_**  
Or you may drown**_

You're living in America  
At the end of the millennium  
You're living in America  
Where it's like the twilight zone

And when you're living in America  
At the end of the millennium  
You're what you own

So I own not a notion  
I escape an ape content  
I don't own emotion- I rent

Dying in America  
At the end of the millennium  
We're dying in America  
To come into our own

And when you're dying in America  
At the end of the millennium  
You're not alone

I'm not alone  
I'm not alone

As they finished the song Puck remembered how in the movie, the friends that had been apart for so long greeted each other with a hug. Puck knew that wasn't going to happen. Not because Finn and Puck weren't friends, but because Finn knew that Puck didn't do hugs. The rest of the group applauded the two as they took their seats again. When Puck sat down Rachel immediately grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze. She was proud of him. Not only for putting up with her crazy scheme but for doing so well on his performance.

"Guys that was great," Mr. Shuester said reclaiming control of the room, a pile of paper in his hand, "This next song wasn't a popular song but I think that it captures a lot about our group and what we're about."

Mr. Shuester began passing the music out as Kurt spoke up, "Mr. Shuester. While I feel that new music is very important, we talked before sectionals on making sure our selections were accessible to the judges. If this song wasn't very popular does it make it really that accessible?"

"That's a really good question Kurt. I think that this song being of the pop variety is what makes it accessible. You can't always do popular songs because then you end up over doing things. By doing a pop song that is unique, we appeal to the judge's accessibility of the genre not the song."

"If it wasn't popular how did you find this song Mr. Shue?" Rachel asked.

"Online." Mr. Shuester said simply, "So tomorrow, we are going to start rehearsing _I Wanna Be the Rain_ by RBD. This will require all of your participation so I expect you to take it just as seriously as Puck and Finn took _What You Own_."

With that, Mr. Shuester dismissed the students. Puck stood waiting while Rachel got her things organized. He looked over and noticed that Finn was coming towards him.

"Hey Puck, can I talk to you?" Finn said.

Puck looked at his former friend and nodded before turning to Rachel, "Hey, can you and Quinn just meet me at the truck?"

"Yeah. Of course." Rachel said picking her bag and then grabbing the keys Puck was now putting in her direction, and then walking over to Quinn, grabbing her arm and leading her out of the room.

"Your good with her," Finn said once everyone was out of the room.

"She makes me want to be good," Puck said. It was the truth, but once he heard it said out loud it made him sound like a wuss. Luckily, Finn didn't comment on it.

"Quinn too. I'm glad she's friends with Rachel now."

Puck just stood there and stared at Finn. Finn initiated this conversation and Puck was almost certain that he didn't want to talk about Rachel and Quinn.

"So look," Finn started, "I get that this whole situation is screwed up. I trusted both you and Quinn and you both betrayed me. But if Rachel can forgive you for all the bad things you've done to her, then maybe, one day, I'll be able to forgive you and Quinn. You've both been through a lot of your own pain with the baby and everything. I know what happened was a mistake, but it still hurts you know and its going to take some time."

"You're right, it was a mistake. But my daughter was not a mistake," Puck said and Finn nodded. Puck wondered if he should bring up the fact that he knew that Finn and Quinn had slept together. He chooses not to.

"So," Finn said, "I'm having some of the guys, from the football team, over on Friday night. If you and Rachel don't have anything planned, I'd like for you to come by."

Puck was shocked, "Sure, dude. That would be cool."

"Cool. Uh, see ya later man," Finn said walking before heading out of the room.

Puck turned around and grabbed his things before heading out to his truck. He climbed inside to find the two girls staring at him intently.

"Is everything alright?" Rachel said.

"Yeah," Puck said starting the car and then reaching for Rachel's hand, "I think that it is."

* * *

AN: Read and Review!!


	6. Is This As Hard As It Gets?

AN: I was supposed to have this done forever ago. I'm so sorry for the delay. I was a little uninspired but I managed to pull myself together. Thank you so much those who reviewed the last chapter, I feel that you all may be the reason this one got done when it did.

So I made a bit of a mistake in the last chapter. I scheduled Finn's little boys night for Friday without looking through my notes and realizing that there is a lot going on before we get to boys night. So not this chapter, but the next, its coming. But, I think this chapter makes up for the miscommunication. Also its late and I really wanted to get this up so if I missed something while reading through this forgive me please! R&R!!!

* * *

Two weeks had passed since Finn sort of extended the olive branch to Puck. Unfortunately, Finn's mom had not been so keen on the idea of having the entire football team in her house, so Finn was forced to postpone the guys night. Not that it mattered. Puck and Finn still went out that Friday night with the guys but the environment wasn't exactly good for male bonding. Especially when Finn insisted that Puck bring Rachel, Matt brought Mercedes and Santana, Brittany, Artie and Tina accompanied them as well. Kurt refused to take part in such a germ-infested activity so he and Quinn opted for a movie night instead. Quinn was relieved because after everything that happened, she couldn't be around Finn right now. He still hadn't said a word to her. She didn't understand how he could seemingly forgive Puck and still not even look at her, even after they had slept together.

As History started Wednesday afternoon, Rachel realized that Quinn was not in her usual seat next to her. As the teacher began her lecture, Rachel was seriously worried about her friend. They had all come to school together today and there couldn't be any reason Rachel could think of for why Quinn wasn't in class. _'Maybe she had gotten sick?' _Rachel thought. Rachel was able to secretly pull her phone out to send Quinn a text asking about her whereabouts, but after ten minutes without a response, Rachel did something she had never done before.

In the middle of the lecture, Rachel raised her hand. When the teacher called upon her she hoped that if her acting lessons had prepared her for anything, it would be this moment.

"Yes Ms. Berry?"

"Ms. Harrison, pardon my interruption, but I feel that I may be ill and a trip the school nurse is required." Rachel lied.

Ms. Harrison looked at Rachel confused. Maybe it wasn't the best time to use her elaborate vocabulary when trying to fake sick, but Rachel was determined that her vocabulary would never fail her sick, well or other. Rachel also hoped she could pray on Ms. Harrison's sense of compassion since Rachel had never, in her entire high school career, gone to the nurse's office. Rachel was relieved when Ms. Harrison turned around and wrote out a hall pass and gave it to Rachel who had already packed away her books and left the classroom in a hurry.

Instead of the nurse's office Rachel went straight to the girl's bathroom immediately getting ready to dial Quinn's cell phone before she heard the sound of muffled crying coming from inside the bathroom. Rachel wondered if she should get involved until she saw the body, or more like the legs of someone who was sitting on the floor inside one of the bathroom stalls. She immediately recognized the bag next to the stall as Quinn's and that the door was slightly opened. Rachel moved to push it aside and once the door was open, Rachel saw Quinn on the floor, her arms wrapped around her knees that were pulled into her chest. Quinn's eyes were red and puffy but the tears began pouring out faster when Quinn looked up to see Rachel. Immediately Rachel got down on the floor with Quinn pulling her friend into a hug. Quinn grabbed onto Rachel's shirt and held on as if it was her only lifeline. It was a good time later when Quinn calmed down enough to pull away from Rachel. Quinn wiped the remaining tears from her eyes, certain that there would be more. They stayed quiet for another while. Rachel wasn't sure if Quinn was going to talk, or if she should, she was still new at the whole being someone's friend thing.

"I was going to text you back," Quinn, said sniffling, "I just didn't know what to say."

"What happened? I mean you don't have to tell me. Its just you're obviously upset."

"It's just, I can't-I can't go through this again. I don't know how I keep ending up in these messes. I mean every time I try to put something in my life back together, it just gets blown into more pieces. I mean hasn't there been enough destruction and bad things in the last six months to at least give me a year off?" Quinn said wiping at the new tears that rushed down her cheeks.

"Quinn," Rachel said, "I'm trying my best to be supportive. But I have no idea what you're talking about."

Quinn looked up at Rachel and held her gaze on the brunette for as long as she could. But she was too ashamed with herself right now. So she took her eyes away from Rachel and stared at her hands that rested against her knees.

"I think I might be pregnant." Quinn said so softly Rachel almost didn't hear her.

Rachel's eyes grew wide with shock. Of all the things Rachel expected Quinn to tell her while sitting on the floor inside a stall in the girl's bathroom, her latest confession was not something she hadn't prepared herself for.

"Quinn," Rachel started.

"Rachel, I don't know what I'm going to do. I don't think I can do the whole teen pregnancy thing again. Especially what happened to my little girl," Quinn stopped there letting her words hang heavy in the air.

"First things first," Rachel said standing up, "You're going to get up off this disgusting floor."

Rachel extended her hand out to Quinn who grabbed on and let Rachel help her off the floor. "The second thing we going to do, is get through the rest of the school day. We don't have glee today so afterwards we are going to go home, and I will find a way to get Noah to stop at the convenience store and we will buy a pregnancy test and we will find out if all of this crying was even worth anything." Rachel said.

Quinn immediately pulled Rachel into a hug. If through all of this Quinn realized that she had found a true friend in Rachel and couldn't, in that moment, put into words how much she appreciated it and how sorry she was for all the cruel things she had done to her in the past. When Quinn pulled away from Rachel she immediately went to look at herself in the mirror. Her eyes were swollen and all the make up had been removed from her face. Rachel wondered if this was what Quinn looked like when she found out she was pregnant with her first child. A scared little girl so vulnerable, so different from the Quinn Fabray that everyone else saw.

"Rachel, thank you, really. But I don't know that I can get make it through the rest of the day with this nagging feeling in my gut." Quinn said.

Just then, the bell rang. It was time for lunch and the bathroom was soon going to be filled with girls passing through. Quinn knew immediately that Quinn wouldn't want anyone seeing her like this.

"It's only a few more hours Quinn."

"Rachel, I don't know if I can do it."

"I have any idea," Rachel said grabbing Quinn's hand and dragging her into the halls.

~~~~*~~~~

After not seeing, Rachel all day Puck was more than happy to at least get her to listen to her sing during lunch. He had heard through Mike that she had left History early because she wasn't feeling well. Puck had made sure to text her to see if she was alright. She quickly reassured him that she was just fine and that she would be waiting for him by his locker at the end of the school day. But nestled into his little hiding spot her heard voices coming into the auditorium. Puck peaked around the corner to see Quinn being dragged across the stage by his girlfriend until they were both standing center stage.

On stage Rachel was desperately trying to convince Quinn that singing was the best way to deal with her emotions.

"Rachel, I'm not you. I can't just sing and make everything okay." Quinn said, "I don't even feel like singing right now."

"Singing doesn't make everything okay; it just makes everything more manageable. If you can find a song that speaks the same way you want to its really good therapy. Singing allows you to express thoughts or feelings that you might be afraid to say or feel, but want to."

"I don't even know what song I'd sing."

"What about that song we were singing in the car on the way here? The Kelly Clarkson one that was driving Noah insane."

Quinn laughed remembering the car ride to school that morning which consisted of herself and Rachel singing at the top of their lungs while Puck just made faces at the two of them. Quinn nodded at Rachel who was sitting at the piano now. If she was going to force Quinn to waste her lunch singing, she was at least going to accompany her while she did it. Quinn gave Rachel a concerned look before starting.

_If anyone asks  
I'll tell them we both just moved on  
When people all stare  
I'll pretend that I don't hear them talk  
Whenever I see you I'll swallow my pride and bite my tongue  
Pretend I'm okay with it all  
Act like there's nothing wrong_

Quinn wasn't sure she was ready to admit it, but Rachel was right. One verse into the song and Quinn was already able to feel the crushing feeling in her chest dissipate. She was convinced that the second she didn't have the song to focus on it would return and she couldn't blame it. She knew it was stupid to sleep with Finn. She never intended it go that far, but when it go there, she couldn't push him away. She loved him and she had always wanted her first time to be with Finn. How could she push him away now that he wanted her again, when she hadn't pushed Puck away? It really wasn't the best mentality for the whole situation but she hadn't expected him to run almost immediately after it was over. And Quinn definitely had no expected weeks later that her period be late she spent the morning nauseous. But thinking about it, the nausea could very well have been from the fact that her period had yet to make an appearance and she had had sex. Granted it was protected sex but things happen and Quinn wasn't exactly having the best year in terms of luck.

_Is it over yet?  
Can I open my eyes?  
Is this as hard as it gets?  
Is this what it feels like to really cry?  
Cry…_

Puck watched as Quinn sang that awful song they were listening on the way to school today. But something was different. This morning Quinn was smiling, this morning Quinn and Rachel were singing in a tone that was completely different than the one Puck was watching. Quinn's voice wasn't as powerful, it was sad and he could tell even from far away that she had been crying.

_If anyone asks  
I'll tell them we just grew apart  
What do I care if they believe me or not  
Whenever I feel your memory is breaking my heart  
I'll pretend I'm okay with it all  
Act like there's nothing wrong  
_

It wasn't hard for Puck to realize that Quinn was singing about Finn. He knew all the things that Finn had done to Quinn and while it was true that he and Quinn deserved some negativity from Finn, the way he had been treating Quinn, especially after he had slept with her wasn't something he could condone. Actually, he was surprised that Finn was even capable of something that was more like himself, or his old self. Maybe all those years of friendship had really not been the best thing for Finn. He wanted to say something to Finn about his behavior, but how could he? Finn was finally beginning to be his friend (they were far away from being best friends again) and this wasn't the time to lecture him Rachel Berry style about the proper ways of treating women. Although truthfully Puck was surprised that Rachel had not given him a very similar lecture.

_Is it over yet  
Can I open my eyes  
Is this as hard as it gets  
Is this what it feels like to really cry  
Cry_

Puck watched as Quinn finished the song before turning around and hugging Rachel again. He was lost in thought when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He flew around to see Finn behind him.

"Dude! I've been looking all over the place for you." Finn said a little louder than Puck would have preferred. There was no way that the girls didn't hear him and without saying a word, he pushed Finn into the lobby of the auditorium.

"Dude," Finn started, "No need to get violent."

"If Rachel finds out I was in there-she just can't find out" Puck said frantically.

"Did I hear Quinn singing?" Finn said ignoring Puck's insane behavior.

"Uh, yeah. She and Rach are working on something." Puck lied.

"Oh, alright. Look I was trying to find you because my mom finally agreed to let me have the guys over on Saturday night."

"That's perfect actually. I guess Rachel is planning on hosting a sleep over with all the glee girls and Kurt Saturday night."

"I was going to invite Kurt over, but something tells me he'd rather be with the girls."

"Nail polish, glitter, and gossip about the rest of us. Yeah I'm pretty sure we don't stand a chance against that."

The boys laughed before they began walking toward the lunchroom.

~~~~*~~~~

Somehow Rachel convinced Quinn that getting through the rest of the school day was what was best. Once Puck, Rachel and Quinn were in the truck Rachel did her best to keep the atmosphere as relaxed as possible. She made sure to turn the radio on and kept the music up beat. She tried hard to convince Quinn to sing with her just as she had that morning. Quinn however reluctant managed to put on a smile and sing a little with Rachel. Puck immediately noticed that Quinn still looked sad like she had in the auditorium that afternoon.

"Noah," Rachel said turning towards him once they were close to Rachel's, "would you mind stopping at that little store down the street from my house? I promised daddy I'd pick up a few things."

"Yeah, sure" Puck said immediately.

Once they pulled into the parking lot, Puck pulled into a parking space and turned the car off.

"No," Rachel said stopping Puck from taking his seat belt off, "I'll just be a minute no need to get out of the truck."

Quinn and Rachel climbed out of the truck and headed towards the store. Puck rolled down her window.

"How come I can't get out of the truck but Quinn can?" Puck said.

"Don't be such a child Noah. It will only be a minute,"

"Plus, I had to get out of the car anyway." Quinn added before Rachel dragged her inside the store.

Rachel pulled Quinn through the rather small store until they found the aisle they needed. Rachel looked around at the different products in front of her before Quinn reached out and grabbed one. Rachel gave her a confused look.

"It's the same brand I used the last time," Quinn said.

Rachel nodded and they went up the register. Luckily the lady at the counter refrained from any judgmental looks as the two girls used Rachel's emergency credit card to pay for the test, which was thrown into a brown paper, bag and then into the bottom of Quinn's purse. Once back into the truck the girls immediately went back to singing as Puck drove back towards Rachel's house.

Once inside Puck if left immediately alone as the girls run upstairs. Sitting down on the couch Puck was grateful that Rachel and Quinn were getting along and were friends, but when they got all girly like they had in the car, Puck can't help but find the whole situation a little out of his comfort zone. Like the singing in the car, it was weird and foreign to Puck. Boys didn't act that way around each other. Yeah every once and a while he and Finn used to have Rock Band sessions, but then they were trying to demolish the high score they reached the night before. This was just singing and smiling. Smiling. That was the only thing that made Puck not begin screaming in their faces for just a little less insanity. The smile on Rachel's face was bright and it was the same one that she was famous for. For all the pain Puck had caused, and that he no doubt believed he would cause, seeing Rachel smile made him happy. In a total non-girly and very manly way.

Puck noticed a receipt had fallen out of Rachel's purse when she had thrown it on the couch before running upstairs. Puck picked it up and though he knew he shouldn't have he read it. It was from the convenience store that Rachel insisted they stop at and when Rachel didn't come out with anything he didn't question it. Looking at the receipt he had to make sure he was seeing things clearly when he saw that she had charged her credit card for a home pregnancy test. Immediately Puck went into a panic. As if on cue Rachel came down the stairs at that very moment a smile on her face until she noticed the terror in Puck's face.

"Noah, what's wrong?" Rachel said as she joined him on the couch.

Puck wasn't sure what to say to her so he just handed Rachel the receipt in his hand. Rachel wasn't sure how to explain this. It obviously wasn't something that Quinn would want other people knowing but there was no way that Rachel was going to be able to keep it from Puck, especially when he was looking at her as if she had grown another head. Puck tried desperately to find his voice when Rachel remained too silent for his liking.

"Are you," Puck started before clearing his throat, "Are you…pregnant?"

"Noah!" Rachel shouted, "We haven't even had sex."

"Yeah well Finn and Quinn didn't have sex either and look how that turned out."

"I'm not pregnant Noah!"

"Good," Puck said almost immediately then just as quickly looked up to see a bit of hurt in Rachel's eyes.

Puck reached out and grabbed Rachel's hands, "That came out wrong. I am not ready to go through the entire teen dad thing again. Especially, after what happened last time. But if, after we, you know and you are. Just know that I will take care of you and the baby, just like I wanted to with Quinn."

"I know Noah. Thank you very much for saying that."

"That still doesn't explain why you bought a pregnancy test." Puck said getting back on topic.

"It's for Quinn. She thinks she might be pregnant."

"I didn't do it!" Puck said hands up defensively.

Rachel just smiled at Puck and playful smacked him in the arm before Puck focused his attention behind her. Rachel turned to follow his gaze and found Quinn standing on the stairs, tears streaming down her face. Rachel immediately leaped off the couch and met Quinn on the stairs, expecting the worst. Quinn wiped the tears from her eyes before donning as much of a smile as she could muster.

"It's negative," she said.

Rachel hugged Quinn on her stairs as Quinn began to laugh. The only other tears Quinn cried that day were of happiness, and from laughter.

* * *

AN: Random observation: Rachel and Quinn hug a lot in this chapter. The song Quinn sang in the auditorium was Cry by Kelly Clarkson. I'm hoping it doesn't take me as long to get the next chapter out but I've been working a lot so I can't promise anything. Again, those who review thank you!! Those who haven't, what are you waiting for?

OH! Question to ALL of my lovely readers, I was wondering what you think about Puck's hiding spot in the auditorium. Is this something you think Rachel should find out about, or should it always be Puck's little secret?


	7. Chapter 7

AN: First off, OMGLee…the amount of reviews for the last chapter were much more than I ever expected! It is officially my most reviewed chapter yet. I thank you all so much! It truly made my week. So, now that is taken care of I don't own any of these lovely characters. R&R!

* * *

Saturday night was a busy night for all of the glee kids. Rachel had to explain to her fathers that morning why they received an email alert saying that there was a charge to her emergency credit card for only fifteen dollars. Rachel told them some lie about needing snacks for a movie night that she, Puck and Quinn had and no one had any money. Luckily, Rachel's dads bought it with a stern warning to never again use the card for something so petty. Puck had made the mistake of stopping by that afternoon to try to get some time in with Rachel but she unfortunately was only up for a rather quick make out session before she began frantically running around the house making sure that everything was perfect for tonight.

Puck decided that watching Rachel run around determined for perfect was cute but Puck would rather been the one to hold her attention so when he was able to stop her for just a moment he said goodbye and promised to call before the night was over. Puck was barely out of the house before Rachel went back to her frantic movements.

When Puck arrived at Finn's house, he noticed from the cars that most of the football team was parked out front. Since football season was over and all the baby gate stuff had gone down, Puck had barely spent anytime with any of the football guys. He wasn't about to admit it but he spent most of his time with Rachel and Quinn, and this guys night was definitely needed. There was no way that he was going to survive on only girly stuff much longer. Puck knocked on the door and almost immediately Matt opened the door without even looking to see who it was. Walking in Puck saw that everyone's attention was focused on Mike and Artie who were playing Modern Warfare and by the looks of it, things were getting pretty intense.

For the next two hours, Puck sat around as everyone took turns challenging Artie who had been officially deemed the master of the video games. Puck wasn't exactly the most comfortable but since no one seemed to be talking to each other about anything other than video games, he seemed to be able to avoid severe discomfort. At the moment, he realized he sure hoped he was going to have Finn back as his friend, because he was definitely spending too much time with women. Also at that moment his phone vibrated in his pocket, he had a text message.

_You're bonding right? This isn't all of you sitting around playing World of Warfare is it?_

Puck laughed at the text from Rachel while at the same time appreciating her concern.

_It's Modern Warfare. I wouldn't be caught dead playing World of Warcraft. _

Puck knew that he hadn't answered Rachel's question but as he expected she pressed the issue in her response.

_That's trivial Noah. Are you bonding? _

Puck rolled his eyes at her persistence, thankful she wasn't around to them berate him for doing so.

_As much as us men do. _He responded.

_That's all I ask. ;) _

Puck couldn't help at but smile at Rachel's attempt to flirt via text message. It took her a long while to explain to her the concept of the smiley faces. She refused since to her they just looked like punctuation. He had it now that she was angry they didn't have one that looked like a star.

Puck was thrown from his thoughts when a throw pillow made contact with his head.

"What the-" Puck said looking to find everyone in the room staring at him.

"Dude this is guys night. You don't text your girlfriend during guys night," Mike said. Puck gave a look at Mike, "Who said that was Rachel?"

"That goofy ass grin on your face," Finn said.

"Last time I checked," Puck said, "I'm the only one in the room with a girlfriend. So if you could all keep your girly jealousy to a minimum that would be fantastic." the room fell quiet, "Now, you could all continue on with what you were doing."

All the guys turned around and decided it was time for a new video game. As the guys started arguing Puck noticed that Finn wasn't looking as happy as he had been thirty seconds ago. He got up off the couch and went over to Finn pulling him into the kitchen.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Puck said low enough that the guys wouldn't know they were talking feelings.

"I thought Puck didn't do chick flick moments,"

"I've seen quite a few since then. Now what's up?"

"How's Quinn?" Finn spit out quickly.

Puck hesitated for a moment, "Uh, she's doing alright now."

"What does that mean? What happened?"

"Look man, I know you slept with her."

"She told you?"

"She told Rachel, who told me. Look man I know that I don't have a lot of room to judge, but this is Quinn."

"What does that mean?"

"Cougars are the love them and leave them type. Random Cheerios who go down on you after an hour. Quinn deserved better than that, even after what happened."

"I know."

"Well then maybe you need to talk to her,"

"What happened? You said she's alright now. Why wasn't she alright before?"

"Quinn had a little scare; she thought she might have been pregnant again."

It was then that Finn got that look of complete bewilderment on his face, "Is she?" was all he managed to say.

"No." Puck said as the two stood in silence for a long time, "Look, I sound like a total chick when I say this, and you can blame Rachel. But why me? After what you said at sectionals and the whole messed up situation. Why can you forgive me and not Quinn?"

Finn looked at Puck for a minute, "She was supposed to love me. The stuff I said at sectionals I'm sorry; it was out of line. Well maybe not entirely but-look, I get that it was a mistake. But you and I, you are like my brother but Quinn, I don't know it's different."

"I get that, Finn, I do. She's been punished enough all of that."

Finn opened and closed his mouth several times in an attempt to say something. But what was the right thing to say to your ex-best friend sort of friend who was showing you that just as much as he fucked up, you did your share as well. When Finn finally spoke, it was the last thing Puck wanted to talk about, "Look, I get now that you both think it was a mistake. But why did it happen in the first place?"

Puck was suddenly weighed down by shock and the sadness of having to open up about his biggest regret. While the consequences were complicated and troubling, Puck realized that the why of everything was rather simple, "Alcohol. It was the Saturday that the Glee club went to that Vocal Adrenaline invitational, before the rest of us joined. Brittany was having one of her crazy parties, there was a lot of alcohol and then, well yeah."

As sensitive as the subject matter was, Puck realized that he had been missing Finn. Finn could be the most clueless person, but the conversation they were having in the middle of the Hudson kitchen reminded him that there was some sort of reason inside Finn's head.

"So, was the baby the reason that Rachel wouldn't take you back during sectionals," Finn said breaking the silence.

"Yeah. I told her and she kind of freaked out. Not that I blame her,"

"You guys are good now?"

"Yeah, we are."

"Good, she deserves someone who isn't going to treat her the way I did." Finn said remembering several occasions where he had been less than leading man material for Rachel's love life.

"While we are having this moment that I'm sure you will agree, won't be spoken of after this, can I ask you something?" Puck asked.

"Yeah, sure."

"Do you think by being with me that Rachel is holding herself back."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, so the Rachel Berry that was there when I joined glee isn't the same girl. Yeah she is still kind of crazy and she hasn't stopped singing. But look at the showcase; that was a prime opportunity for Rachel Berry to show off what she does best and sing a solo, hell I'm sure Shuester would have given her ten solos if it kept her happy. But instead, she volunteered the idea of the duet with Quinn, and she had the duet with me. Not once did she complain or change her mind and decide to sing a solo too. "

"You're worried that because of you Rachel is singing less solos?"

"It's not that. The first time we dated, she spent almost all of the time that we weren't making out singing or talking non-stop. Sometimes she's quiet and it's nice but she doesn't ask to do as many activities involving singing. Between the changes I've seen in Rachel and the stuff you told me before sectionals, and then her last week; what if you're right and because of my inability to not screw up I hurt her? What if I'm not good enough for her?"

"The great, studly, badass Puck is really asking these questions?"

"Rachel belongs in that same category I put Quinn in earlier."

"Have you talked to Rachel about all of this?"

"Well…no."

"There's your problem dude. It is also why dudes don't talk about this stuff. Because I don't have the answers. Only Rachel does. So if your faith in your badassness if wavering the only place you can go is straight to the source and talk to Rachel."

"Dude, did you just compare Rachel to God?"

Finn stopped and stared at Puck for a moment, "Uh not intentionally, but yeah."

~~~~*~~~~

At Rachel's house, things were quite different than at Finn's. After watching Dirty Dancing, Kurt had taken over and insisted that everyone give each other manicures and pedicures and Kurt wanted to do full makeovers on all the girls and everyone, some reluctantly, agreed. Rachel sat and watched as Mercedes was painting Tina's toenails a shiny shade of blue that Rachel had in her collection. Kurt was playing with Quinn's make up as Santana and Brittany were filing each other's nails. Rachel didn't feel left out, only rather pleased with herself. From what she could make from her text messages, Puck and Finn were getting along great at his house. And here in her house were six people who had become her very good friends in the last couple of months, and she couldn't have been happier. Rachel watched as Quinn laughed at something that Kurt said happy to see the blonde smiling again. With everything that she had gone through the last months and even in the last week, Rachel knew that Quinn deserved to smile.

"You know," Brittany began announcing to the whole room, "the good thing about being in a relationship with a girl is that your parents let you have sleepovers all the time. Like your parents just let you have sex."

Everyone paused, including Santana who looked at her Cheerio girlfriend with a stunned expression. Leave it Brittany to not only say something as random as that, but what Rachel didn't expect is the onslaught of questions that came her way following.

"Brittany, Santana," Kurt started, "You know we in Glee club are more than supportive of your new found love for each other, but you've been having sex for, well since before sectionals, and that is not a conversation I feel like having again," Kurt said remembering that it was him that Santana and Brittany came to in order to see if what they were feeling was what it meant to be gay. "It's your relationship with Tall, Dark and Mohawk that I'm interested in." Kurt said focusing his eyes on Rachel.

"Me?" Rachel squeaked.

"No one else has been able to tame the great Puck," Santana said joining the now six pairs of eyes focused on her.

"Well I'm not sure I'm comfortable sharing that information with any of you," Rachel said trying not to get flustered. She did NOT want to talk about her love life with all of these people.

"It's a sleepover Rachel," Mercedes said, "we're suppose to dish all the dirty on the boys,"

"Well then why aren't the rest of you being interrogated?"

"Because you're the only one with a boyfriend." Kurt said.

Rachel sighed. Never in her life did she ever think she would in this position, questioned about her relationship with a boy, AND the only one with a boyfriend.

"What do you want to know?" Rachel asked cautiously surrendering.

Suddenly Rachel was bombarded with several questions from five of the six people in the room. Quinn knew everything that there was to tell so she just rolled her eyes and gave Rachel a smile, "One at a time people," Quinn shouted.

"How's the sex?" Kurt blurted.

"Um, well, you see," Rachel stammered, "Noah and I, well, we aren't having sex."

Gasps came from around the room.

"You really have tamed that boy," Santana said.

"I wouldn't say that he is tamed Santana. That implies that he is a beast, which he is not."

"Not anymore. You know we are your friends Rachel, but everyone else is talking about how the great Noah Puckerman has settled down with Rachel Berry." Tina said.

"I think he loves you," Mercedes said, "has he told you?"

"Well, no."

"Do you love him?" Brittany asked.

"Well, yes. Yes I do."

"Have you told him?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Well, it just really hasn't come up."

"Rachel, you should tell him," Quinn said.

"Can we talk about the way Matt has been looking at Mercedes or something because it's really getting too hot under this spotlight?"

"Our diva can't take the heat of her own relationship," Kurt said.

"Matt and I are going out on a date tomorrow night," Mercedes interrupted.

Rachel had never been so happy to get out of the spotlight. So luckily that is how the girls and Kurt spent the rest of the evening: detailing every inch of Mercedes wardrobe and make up choices for her date with Matt. While the group was emerged in an online search for the perfect way for Mercedes to do her hair, Rachel snuck out of the room. Pulling out her cell phone. It was getting late and she wanted to say goodnight to Puck before it was too late to call. She pressed the button and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey baby," Puck said answering the phone after two rings. He was still at Finn's but it was down to just the glee guys and he didn't have to hide who he was talking to or how he talked to them.

"Hi Noah. I just wanted to call and say goodnight before it got too late to call and we are going to sleep soon anyway."

"Oh alright. Hey, can I come over tomorrow?"

"Sure. The girls should be out of here by noon and I've been recruited to prep Mercedes for her date with Matt tomorrow, but there is plenty of time in between."

"Are you saying that I now have to pencil in time with my girlfriend?"

Rachel laughed, "No. Provided I do not have a prior engagement, all of my time can be yours. Mercedes just happened to get to me before you."

"Rachel get your Broadway lovin' butt in here!" Kurt yelled from the other room.

"Sounds like your audience awaits you. Goodnight babe, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Noah."

Puck hung up the phone and picked up the pillow that Mike had thrown at him. Matt was sitting next to Artie and the boys were going to watch the Hangover. Puck threw the pillow full force at Matt's head. Matt turned around looking at Puck confused and angry.

"I knew you were making oogly eyes at Jones!"

"What are you talking about man?" Matt said still upset about getting hit with a pillow.

"You've got a date with Mercedes tomorrow!"

And that's how the boys ended their evening. With The Hangover and heckling Matt about his

date with Mercedes.

* * *

AN: Okay, so the ending is a little weak, but I wasn't sure how to end this. Again, thank you for all you wonderful people who read and review and alert this story! It puts a smile on my face!


	8. Broken Lights Shine on Us Tonight

AN: Thank you all who reviewed last chapter! This is officially my most reviewed story ever! Thank you all those who just read or alert, I appreciate all of you as well! This hiatus thing is beginning to kill me…there are 67 days left until Glee comes back…and while that makes me happy because its better than the 120something we started with, its still 67 more days. Oh well, enjoy! R&R

* * *

Saturday afternoon, Rachel and Quinn were busy cleaning up the remains of the sleepover. With Mercedes' big date that night, she needed to get home, and she had come over with Kurt who had also driven everyone else with the exception of Quinn. So the Quinn and Rachel had lunch and then spent time folding sleeping bags and rearranging the furniture so that the house looked like it did before it had been invaded with high school girls. Quinn was just finishing putting the last of the sleeping bags in the hall closet when the doorbell rang.

"Quinn, can you get that? It's Noah," Rachel called from her place at the kitchen sink finishing the last of the dishes.

Quinn moved to the front door and let Puck inside.

"Where's Rachel?" Puck asked walking inside the Berry house.

"Doing dishes," Quinn said before grabbing her bags that had been sitting by the door, "Rachel, I'm leaving. I'll be back later to pick you up to go to Mercedes'"

"Alright," Rachel called from the kitchen.

"Bye Puck," Quinn said leaving the house and closing the door behind her.

Puck walked through the living room and into the kitchen. From the entrance, Puck took in Rachel as she put the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. She wore pink pajama pants and a white tank top. Her hair was thrown on top of her head in a messy bun and if you asked Rachel, she would tell you she looked horrible. Puck on the other hand thought she looked absolutely beautiful like that. Rachel closed the dishwasher and turned around to see Puck leaning against the wall looking right at her.

"Noah, didn't anyone tell you it was impolite to stare?" Rachel said smiling as she walked over to him.

Once Rachel was in arm's length Puck immediately grabbed her, pulling her close before bending down to capture her lips with his. When he pulled away he held onto her but pulled back to eye her attire one more time.

"But I can't help it with this outfit," Puck said smiling.

"Noah," Rachel said smacking Puck's arm playfully, "I should change."

"No, don't. But can we talk?"

Rachel gave him a confused look but nodded, grabbed his hand and led him to the couch in the living room.

"Is everything alright?" Rachel asked, her hand still linked with Puck's.

Puck ran his free hand through his Mohawk, "Yeah, I think so."

"Then what are we talking about?"

'_Don't hold anything back,' _Puck reminded himself, '_remember what happened last time you kept your feelings from her_.' "Look, Rach, it isn't news that I'm new at this relationship thing. I mean really with the exception of Santana, you are the only girlfriend I've had. And cougars and Cheerios, the whole thing, it's different from what we have here. I just, well I've noticed that you've changed a lot since we got together, and I'm just worried that I'm going to hold you back."

"Hold me back how? What changes?"

"I talked to Finn about this and it now sounds ridiculous coming out of my mouth, but you haven't really had a lot of solos in Glee lately."

"You're holding me back because I don't sing solos?"

"Okay, now hearing you say it, it sounds even more ridiculous. Like the first time we dated, I couldn't get you to stop singing and showing off how amazing your voice is. But at the showcase, you didn't have a single solo, the Rachel Berry I know wants all the solos but you did two duets, and I just don't want you to stop singing because of me." Puck rambled. And everything he said sounded like just petty insecurities, like he was worried for nothing, "But that's not it. Maybe, I don't know maybe everything Finn said to be before sectionals and to you about me being a fuck up is true. What if I'm not good enough?"

"Noah Puckerman are you questioning your own badassness?"

"It's my badassness I'm worried about here."

"What do I have to do to show you that you're not a Lima Loser anymore,"

"Wait, what?"

Rachel realized what she had said and her hand flew over her mouth.

"Is that what you think of me Rachel?" Puck said pulling his hand from Rachel's.

"That's not what I meant Noah."

"Then what did you mean? Are you honestly telling me that that's what you thought of me before?" Puck said standing from the couch.

"Honestly," Rachel paused, "I didn't know you then Noah."

"You were the last person I expected to hear this from."  
"Noah, I'm sorry. I didn't intent to insult you." standing to join Puck.

"This is great, just great. The one person I thought had faith in me as a person, as a man, and it turns out she just thinks that I'm a loser."

"I never said that Noah!"

"But you used to."

"Well excuse me Noah but you were throwing slushies in my face on a daily basis. But things have changed, I don't think that way anymore."

"But there must be some small part of you, somewhere hidden deep inside that thinks I'm still that same guy, that you may be wrong about me."

"Noah now you're putting words into my mouth, into my brain."

"But I'm right aren't I? You throw all this affection and praise towards me in hopes that I turn out to be an all right guy instead of the loser going absolutely no where in life."

"Noah, what has gotten into you?"

"Finn had me convinced that all of the insecurities I had were for nothing, that I should just talk to you and things would be fine. But I have and things aren't fine."

"Noah, I didn't mean what I said, not the way you're taking it. I'm sorry."

"Look," Puck said walking towards the front door, "I'm just going to go."

"Noah, wait. We have to fix this."

Puck didn't' say anything but opened the door and walked out closing it behind him. Rachel fell back onto the couch the tears already cascading down her face. She leaned back and grabbed a pillow, holding it tightly to her chest. _What the heck just happened? _Was all that she could think.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck wasn't sure what was going on in his head, he just knew that he was harboring a lot of tension and he had to get rid of it. Immediately he remembered that there was a party tonight. And no better way to get ready for a party, than to do a lot of pre-gaming. Puck called Finn and brought out the case of beer that someone bought him outside the 7-11 weeks ago. There was no way hell he was letting that go to waste. By the time Finn showed up Puck had already downed four beers. Finn looked at his friend who was surrounded by empty beer cans at four in the afternoon.

"What happened to you man?"

"Tonight, my friend, we are going to party."

~~~~*~~~~

Rachel was supposed to be ready for Quinn to pick her up to go to Mercedes at five-thirty. It was currently five-fifteen and Rachel had only begun to get ready. She had sent several text messages and left probably twice as many voicemails, but Puck's phone had been turned off. Looking at herself in the mirror, her eyes red and puffy, and her face splotchy, Rachel wishes she could just go back into her room and cry the rest of the day away, or at least until Puck finally decided to return her messages. She knew that she didn't mean what she said, it didn't come out the way it sounded in her head. Her ability to speak her mind clearly failing her for the first time in her life and she could feel the destruction it caused in the tightness in her chest. Once she managed to get herself dressed in jeans and a t-shirt she was sure that Kurt would comment on, she heard Quinn honking in the driveway as she started applying her make up the best she could so she could get rid of as many of the signs that she was crying as possible. Sighing heavily, Rachel made her way down to Quinn's car and got inside.

"What took you so long? You know if we're late Kurt will have our heads." Quinn said beginning to back out of the driveway. Before the car entered the street, she stopped noticing Rachel's silence, "What's wrong?"

Rachel just shook her head trying as hard as she could for the tears not to escape her eyes, "Nothing. Nothing is wrong until after we get Mercedes off on her date. She needs us and we have to be there for her."

"The second she's sent on her way you're spilling. But you're going to have to hide it better if you want to avoid a ton of questions from everyone else."

Rachel knew that Quinn wasn't intending on being as heartless as she sounded; but it was what Rachel needed. She needed Quinn to bully her into regaining her composure. When they arrived at Kurt's, Kurt's dad let them in and directed them into the basement. There the girls found Mercedes standing in front of a mirror in a black pencil skirt, a black vest that sat upon a purple tube top, and a pair of black heels. Kurt was currently playing around with her hair as Tina was searching for make up choices.

"It's about time you two showed up," Kurt said without looking away from Mercedes, "Quinn, we need your help with the hair. Rachel, I just need your opinion."

"Mercedes you look beautiful. Matt's jaw will hit the floor." Rachel said with a smile plastered on tightly.

Once Mercedes was finished getting ready, she looked like the diva that she was. Her outfit was accented with a smoky gray eye shadow and as the doorbell rang Kurt and Mercedes went upstairs to greet Matt (who was told to pick up Mercedes at Kurt's). The girls and Kurt had decided that they would all stay at Kurt's until Mercedes called after her date for all the gossip. When Kurt came back down several minutes later, he had a tray covered with several different flavors of ice cream, a stack of DVDs, which upon review were all musicals, and several tubes of facial masks. Everyone looked at Kurt confused but he looked directly at Rachel.

"You obviously need to wallow, so I am providing all the necessary comfort foods and activities. You my dear will just be telling us why we left you only eight hours ago, and you now look like you've been through hell and back." Kurt said placing the tray down on the table.

It was then that Rachel broke down again. All the girls immediately crowded around her while Kurt popped in _Mamma Mia!_.

~~~~*~~~~

By the time Puck and Finn arrived at Savannah Jeffrey's party, Puck was more than a little drunk. Puck had practically forced Finn to drink a beer or two before they left but luckily Finn had convinced Puck that it was a good idea to let him drive to the party. By nine o'clock Savannah's house was packed with Cheerios and members from the football team and the basketball team, and a bunch of other people that Puck couldn't place. As he stumbled through the living room, he happened to stumbled, and practically fell into the hostess. Savannah was dressed in her Cheerios uniform and her blonde hair was pulled back. She almost looked like Quinn did while she was on the Cheerios, but she wasn't anywhere as close to being as attractive as Quinn was. Sleeping with Quinn may have been a mistake, but he still recognized how hot she was.

"Puck, I'm surprised you're here," Savannah said, "Is Rachel here?"

"Nope, just me."

"Good. I'll see you later," Savannah said walked away swaying her hips.

Finn walked up to Puck then and grabbed him by the arm, "Look Puck, I don't know what's going on with you because you've barely said a word since I showed up to find you drunk. I shouldn't even have brought you here. But whatever the hell is going on, don't do anything stupid. Rachel's already called me once-"

Puck just looked at Finn and tore his arm from Finn's grasp. Without a word, Puck walked away.

~~~~*~~~~

"And he just walked out?" Kurt said as the group gathered around a box of Kleenex. Rachel had finally managed to control her crying after telling the story of the afternoon's events.

"Yep. And he hasn't answered a single text message or phone call since,"

"Did you try Finn?" Quinn asked, "They are talking now, maybe he went over there."

"I called once and Finn didn't pick up. I'm not going to bother him with this. And if he's with Noah he won't answer."

"It's obvious there was some sort of miscommunication. The best thing to do now is just wait it out and let him calm down and then you'll be back to being disgustingly cute again," Kurt said as his phone rang, seeing it was Mercedes he picked it up and put it on speaker placing it in the center of the group, "Hello darling. Need we ask, spill."

"Guys it was great," Mercedes voice rang through the room, "He was such a gentleman. We went to that cute little Italian place-"

Rachel was happy for her friend. Mercedes deserved to be happy. But as Mercedes recounted her magical evening with Matt, Rachel couldn't help but think about Puck, about what had happened, and worry that this was going to be the end. They had been through so much and they had helped each other greatly, but Rachel was afraid that this, this stupid misunderstanding was going to be more destructive than everything else was . She was afraid that Puck was never going to forgive her for her stupid momentarily lapse in logical thought. She pulled out her phone as everyone was awing at Mercedes and sent yet another text to Puck_. I'm unbelievably sorry Noah. Please call me. _She thought about adding the part about her being scared but thought it too much for a text message. She closed her phone and felt a betraying tear slide down her face. She hurried to remove it, but Quinn caught her and sent her an apologetic glance.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck woke up to the sound of his phone beeping. He couldn't remember when he had turned it on but as he opened his eyes, he found himself in a bed naked. He sat up suddenly and looked to his left to find Savannah Jeffrey's naked playing with his phone.

"What are you doing?" Puck asked angry.

"Going through your phone. You've got several messages from your girlfriend." Savannah said as she continued to rifle through Puck's phone.

"Give me that," Puck said snatching the phone from her hands.

Looking at the texts he realized he had a least a dozen from Rachel pleading with him to call her, two from Finn trying to figure where he had gone off to, and five from Quinn berating him for not answering Rachel. He got out of bed and got dressed, Savannah still lying in her bed.

"Where are you going?" Savannah asked.

"I have to go, Finn's waiting for me."

"Well alright, say hi to Rachel for me," Savannah said smirking.

Puck charged out of the room and downstairs to find Finn sitting with Matt. Puck had no idea what time it was but the party was beginning to die down.

"Dude, where the hell have you been?" Finn asked getting up and meeting him at the bottom of the stairs.

"Just take me home," Puck said heading for the front door.

"Okay but w-"

Puck stopped and turned around, "Finn, just take me home."

Puck was now very sober, but he could feel the affects of the alcohol attack his core in waves of nausea. Was it from the alcohol or something else? As he got into Finn's car, he refused to focus on anything but the air around him the sounds, anything but what had just happened. When he got home, he didn't even say goodbye to Finn but jumped out of the car and headed straight inside and directly towards the bathroom. There he emptied everything from his stomach into the toilet bowl. It was there that he passed out that night, staring at one of the many texts from Rachel.

* * *

AN: Don't hate me!!!!


	9. The Thunder Rolls

AN: Thank you once again to all you wonderful people who reviewed and added this story to their favorites and alerts. I really like this story so I'm glad that you all are enjoying it! R&R!!! Also as I submit this I am preparing my house for a glee party…I have no interest in football so I'm enjoying some glee with my girls….and trying to recruit a few gleeks!

* * *

Rachel spent all day Sunday crying. Her father's had tried on several occasions to get her to come out of her room but she refused every one of their requests. So they were more than thrilled when Quinn showed up. Opening Rachel's bedroom door Quinn looked into to see Rachel sitting up in bed watching the Notebook with tissue scattered around the bed.

"You look horrible," Quinn said, hanging her purse on Rachel's desk chair.

Rachel looked up at Quinn, her face looking similar to the way it had the previous day before all of the makeup, "Thank you Quinn that boost in my confidence is greatly appreciated."

Quinn let Rachel's snippy comment slide, "At least you didn't sleep with his best friend?"

Rachel shot Quinn a look, "Not funny."

"Well I don't know what you want me to do or say. He's not answering the phone for me either. Did you try Finn again?"

"Yeah, nothing."

"He just needs to calm down and all of us annoying him isn't going to help that happen any quicker."

Rachel just shrugged. Quinn moved to sit on Rachel's bed and noticed the tissue in scattered mess around Rachel, "Well you can't sit here like this. Not if I'm going to be here. Get up and at least get showered and dressed, we can be all sappy today but you at least need to get yourself changed."

Quinn grabbed Rachel out of her bed and pushed her into her bathroom.

And that is how Rachel and Quinn spent Sunday afternoon, crying over sappy movies.

~~~~*~~~~

By Monday morning, Rachel still hadn't heard from Puck. He had been Rachel's usual ride to school. However, Puck had sent Quinn a text asking her to pick Rachel up for him. He doesn't respond to Quinn's text asking why. Rachel's heart fell a little more when she sees Quinn pull in her driveway to pick her up. She almost reluctantly got inside. She fortunately had stopped crying somewhere between West Side Story and How to Deal. How to Deal somehow gave Rachel hope that everything would be okay. She had nowhere near the same emotional issues as Mandy Moore's character had, and that other cute guy reminded her of Puck the entire time.

The ride to school was silent. Quinn and Rachel having spent the last two days and all their resources trying to sort through the problem. Quinn was trying so hard to comfort Rachel, however without any idea where Puck was, there was no way of telling how long this was going to go on.

For Rachel, walking into school was the harder than it had ever been. Slushies and other forms of torment constantly threatened her, however the idea of seeing Puck made things a million times worse. Rachel wasn't sure what she expected when she walked through the hallways of William McKinley, but she was immediately greeted with silence, and then the loudest whispers she had ever heard. Rachel ignored them. People had whispered before and Rachel had realized that most of the time they didn't need a reason to do so.

~~~~*~~~~

Puck was happy for two things today. One was the fact that he didn't have to see Rachel face to face until Glee, and the second was that he could still listen to her sing during lunchtime. Puck felt something inside of him break as he watched her walk to the middle of the stage and stop, staring directly into the empty audience. She stood there silent for a long time. Puck couldn't really tell but on stage, Rachel fought long and hard to keep the tears at bay. She couldn't cry at school, not the way she had at home, so she had to be strong enough to get through the rest of the day without shedding another tear. When she finally thought she had firm control of her emotions, Rachel took a deep breath and began singing.

_I don't mind at all  
It's like you're the swing set and I'm the kid that falls  
It's like the way we fight, the times I've cried, we come to blows  
And every night the passion's there so it's gotta be right, right?_

Listening to Rachel sing, Puck was angry with himself. What he had done with Savannah on Saturday night was absolutely inexcusable. There was no way that Rachel was going to forgive him for that, nor did Puck expect her to. But that still meant that he had to tell her, that he had to see her and know that he had hurt her. And that he was going to hurt her more. Puck could hear the pain in Rachel's expression as she sang strong with that amazing Rachel Berry voice that made his skin tingle.

_No I don't believe you  
When you say don't come around here no more  
I won't remind you  
You said we wouldn't be apart  
No, I don't believe you  
When you say you don't need me anymore  
So don't pretend  
To not love me at all_

At some point Saturday Puck knew that he had been out of line. It had come way too late and he was way too intoxicated to look back, but he knew it. Rachel wasn't trying to hurt him; she hadn't meant what she said. But still Puck latched on to that small speck and turned it into one of the biggest messes of his life.

_I don't mind it  
I still don't mind at all  
It's like one of those bad dreams when you can't wake up  
Looks like you've given up, you've had enough  
But I want more no I won't stop  
'cause I just know you'll come around... right?_

Rachel wondered what glee would be like this afternoon. Would they sit in awkward silence until it was over and then they had a chance go talk? Would they even talk? Rachel wondered if Puck even wanted her anymore. The last couple of months had been hard and they had been painful but they had found each other in those months and they got through all the ugly. _'Maybe Noah doesn't need me anymore' _Rachel thought.

_No I don't believe you  
When you say don't come around here no more  
I won't remind you  
You said we wouldn't be apart  
No, I don't believe you  
When you say you don't need me anymore  
So don't pretend  
To not love me at all_

As Rachel finished singing, Puck knew that he had to reason with Rachel. He would tell her the truth and that counted for something right? Well probably not but he had to hope that it was. He would tell Rachel that sleeping with Savannah was a mistake and that it'll never happen again. Rachel was a forgiving person. She had forgiven Finn for all his idiotic behavior and she had forgiven him for the slushies. Puck knew inside that this was completely different from slushies; slushies washed away. Puck needed Rachel to forgive him; he needed her in his life. This was never happening again and Rachel had to understand this. She needed to understand that he loved her. Yes, Noah Puckerman had been in love with Rachel Berry for a long time but he had never said anything. Why? He wasn't really sure.But it was time to bring out the big guns, and Puck was ready to do everything and anything to make this okay again.

_~~~~~*~~~~_

Puck's best scenario for fixing this was during glee. There was a small chance she would fight with him in front of an audience and she would at least listen to him. Or storm out, but Puck was hoping for the first one. So he skipped his last class of the day and arrived at the choir room really early in order to start this conversation before anyone else got into the room. Puck sat in the front row of chairs anxiously awaiting Rachel walking through that door. He was ready to do everything, including gravel in order to get her to listen. The door opened and Puck's heart nearly came up through his throat and then plummeted immediately into his stomach when Quinn walked in the room slamming the door closed behind her. She moved towards Puck grabbing the books in her hands and immediately started hitting Puck repeatedly with them. Puck tried his best to block each hit but Quinn came at him still.

"What the hell Quinn?" Puck said when she finally stopped. She looked pissed.

"Are you an idiot? Don't even answer that because I know the answer. You're not just an idiot. You're the biggest dumbest idiot I have ever met in my entire life. What the hell were you thinking, sleeping with Savannah Jeffreys?" Quinn's voice dropped to a whisper at the last part even though they were alone.

"How did you-"

"Savannah just had to gloat. She told Santana who was able to keep it from Brittany so none of the other gleeks know. But she told me. The whole school is going to know pretty soon and do you have any idea what that is going to do to Rachel?"

"It was a mistake," Puck said looking at Quinn seriously.

"She's been torn apart all weekend Puck," Quinn said referring to Rachel, "Because you had that fight and then I found out you weren't even a bit upset about the whole thing that you were too busy getting drunk and laid by Savannah. First, she is trying horribly to be me and second of all, you don't do that to Rachel!" Quinn said hitting him again with her books.

"I don't know what to say Quinn,"

"You don't have to say anything to me. You had better hope that Rachel hasn't heard about this already or you're going to be in even more trouble. I just spent my entire weekend comforting her because she thought you were mad at her for accidentally calling you a Lima Loser and now I'm going to have to spend who knows how much more time comforting her over this. There isn't enough ice cream or enough chick flicks for that poor girl to deal with."

"That's why as soon as she gets here, I'm going to talk to her."

"You were going to do it right before glee? Tell her that the boy she adored so much was unfaithful to her. And what we could all sing around her as she cried? It doesn't matter, she's not coming."

"What do you mean she's not coming?"

"I don't know I haven't seen her since after lunch. She said she wasn't feeling well and she sent me a text to let me know one of her dads came to get her and to tell Mr. Shuester she was sorry."

"What am I going to do Quinn?"

"I have no idea Puck. You might really be screwed this time." Quinn said taking a seat next to Puck as everyone else began filing in the room.

Puck couldn't help but notice the completely obvious dirty looks Kurt was giving him. He had no idea how much Hummel knew but it wasn't anything compared to the dirty look Santana was throwing him, and she knew everything. Mr. Shuester walked in ready to start rehearsal and immediately noticed Rachel's absence.

"Where's Rachel?" the glee director asked.

"She's not feeling well Mr. Shuester," Quinn said, "Something about protecting her vocal chords this close to regionals."

"Well alright then. Speaking of regionals, we have three weeks. And after reviewing Finn and Puck's _What You Own _and everyone's _I Wanna Be the Rain_, I have chosen to go with the group number rather than the duet because I want to make this as much of a group effort as a singular one. Now I really want to focus our strength as a group during _Finale B_. There is only one line considered solo and Artie is going to take that. Now for I Wanna Be the Rain, we are going to split the verses up and I want Finn and Quinn to take the solos in that song. In _One Sweet Day_, I have divided it up between Artie, Mercedes, Finn, Puck and Rachel. I really wanted to run through _One Sweet Day _today but with Rachel absent, we will have to get started on_ I Wanna Be the Rain_." Will said starting rehearsal.

~~~~*~~~~

After a glee rehearsal in which Puck found himself only half-participating in, he rushed to his truck and headed straight to Rachel's. He parked in front of her house and was surprised to see that her dads weren't home. If they had picked her up from school because she was sick, one of them should have stayed home, right? He shook it off thankful they were going to have the privacy they needed for the conversation. He was also grateful that there would be no fathers to beat him to a bloody pulp for hurting their little girl.

Puck walked the path to the front door and rang the bell. Standing there, he felt time begin to move slowly, waiting for Rachel to come answer the door. Puck stood there for what felt like five minutes (well that's because it was five minutes) before he rang the bell again. This time he added a couple of knocks to the door. '_Shit'_ he thought as he banged on the door again. The truth was he had no idea if Rachel was even home but he was full prepared to bang on that door until his hands bled incase she was inside. Finally, just as Puck was about to launch into another assault of the Berry's front door, it flung open but there was no one standing there to greet him. Puck peeked his head inside to see that Rachel had opened the door but immediately gone to sit down her couch.

Puck stepped into the house and closed the door behind him. He didn't move any farther though. He just stood in front of the door and looked at Rachel who was visibility upset. He didn't know how to start talking so instead he just stood there, like a fool while Rachel looked everywhere else in the room but at him.

Suddenly Rachel shot up and turned so that she was facing away from Puck.

"You know I had a really interesting conversation with Savannah Jeffreys today. She told me that she saw you at her party Saturday night, and that she would have slept with you sooner if she'd known how good in bed you were." Rachel was glad she was still facing away from Puck so he couldn't see the tears slip down her face, "And I knew she had to be lying to me. Right? I kept telling myself that you would never do that to me. But she was telling me about all of the texts I sent you Saturday night, apologizing and then I thought well maybe she just got a hold of your phone. So now I'm going to ask you Noah, was she telling the truth, did you sleep her?"

"Rachel-"

"NO!" Rachel yelled probably the loudest she ever had, "I just need a yes or a no."

Puck hesitated for a moment, "Yes. But Rachel just listen-"

It was then that Rachel turned to look at him, a stream of tears emptying her eyes and carving marks into her cheeks. She wiped at them furiously and Puck's heart snapped knowing that he had caused all of this. He moved closer, away from the door.

"Was it because we hadn't had sex?" Rachel asked bluntly.

"What?! No. Of course not, I told you I was okay with waiting."

"Then why?" Rachel whispered, a stark contrast from her voice only a moment before, "I don't understand."

"I was upset about our fight and I was drinking, I wasn't thinking clearly."

"So that's your excuse, alcohol?"

"Pretty much yeah."

"Well that isn't going to work this time. It might have worked to get Finn to forgive you for sleeping with Quinn, but it isn't going to work now."

Puck flinched at Rachel's words, "Rachel, I'm sorry." Puck said moving to close as much of the distance between them as he could.

Rachel put her hands up and kept him at arms length, "I'm sorry is what you say when you're late or you forget something. But I'm sorry doesn't work when you've broken my trust and humiliated me AGAIN in front of the whole school."

"Rach, I don't know what else to say other than it was a mistake and it will never happen again."

"You're damn right it won't," Puck would have thought in any other situation that her use of the word 'damn' was cute; however when it came from the anger aimed towards him he couldn't help but avoid that thought, "I spent this entire weekend completely beside myself because you weren't answering my texts or my calls. But the entire time I was beating myself up for what happened on Saturday you were off doing disgusting things with blonde cheerleaders."

Rachel looked down at the floor as Puck's eyes pleaded with the top of her head to look into his eyes and see how sorry and upset he was over this whole thing. He was silently pleaded for her to do anything that gave him the slightest bit of hope that everything was going to be okay.

"I love you," Puck said.

Rachel's head shot up and she looked at him wide eyed. Puck said he was going to pull out all the stops and he hadn't been kidding. It probably wasn't the best time or in the most romantic setting that he thought she deserved, but he wanted Rachel to know.

"Well you've got a hell of a way of showing it," Rachel spat.

"You love me too, I know you do." Puck said grabbing Rachel's hand.

Rachel felt his warm hand on hers and his flesh burned against her skin. She pulled her hand back and looked him in the eye, "I loved you more when you threw slushies at me."

"You don't mean that Rachel."

"You can leave now."

"Rach-"

"GET OUT!" Rachel shouted walking away from him and into her kitchen leaving Puck alone in the middle of her living room.

It took a moment but Puck finally walked back towards the door. As he opened it, he stopped calling back to her before walking out, "Just because I have a hard time showing it doesn't make it any less true."

Once in his truck, Puck slammed his hands against the steering wheel. He turned his truck on and the radio poured through the speakers. He hadn't listened to the radio on the way to Rachel's and it was still on the country station that Rachel had put on days ago. She had been looking for new songs to sing and thought she should at least entertain the idea of country music given its popularity. Puck backed out of the driveway too angry to change the station. Puck was more than half way to his house when he finally started paying attention to the lyrics to the song that had been playing since he had left Rachel and he realized that it was time for a change, one he had once hoped would never come, but it was time.

"_Another love grows cold, on a sleepless night. As the storm blows on, out of control, deep in her heart, the thunder rolls"_

Puck felt it rolling it in himself as well.

* * *

AN: I kid you not, I listened to "The Thunder Rolls" by Garth Brooks on loop the entire time that I was writing the last part with Rachel and Puck. Which if you didn't know was the song that Puck heard on the radio. I'm really glad that I didn't out Puck's hiding spot when I had originally planned because I like that he can have it now that they are going through all of this.


	10. The Return of PUCK

AN: It is my hope that this chapter makes it clear what changes Puck is going to be making. Thank you again to everyone who is reading, reviewing, alerting, and adding this story to their favorites. It absolutely makes my day every time I see an email. R&R!

* * *

Tuesday afternoon Finn and Puck sat in Finn's bedroom playing video games. Finn finally felt at ease around Puck. Finn wasn't exactly sure that he could trust Puck entirely, but it didn't require tons of trust to play video games. Puck was concentrating hard on the game in front of him, and Finn noticed he wasn't doing any trash talking. When Puck defeated Finn for the third time that afternoon Finn dropped his controller surrendering. Finn waited for Puck to say something, anything. When he had heard about Savannah Jeffreys, he knew that Puck was going to be dealing with a lot and after the conversation that they had the other night; he was hoping that Puck would make an effort to tell him what happened with Rachel. When the deafening silence fell on the room Finn made the effort.

"You haven't talked about it. How'd it go with Rachel?" Finn said avoiding looking at Puck who was still staring at the television.

"If it went well do you think I'd be here?" Puck's gaze still was in front of him and not the friend at his side.

"I guess not."

"Doesn't matter; its over. I fucked up, no shock there. So it's over and I'm moving on."

"Just like that?" Finn said finally looking at Puck who turned just enough to glare at Finn.

"Don't really have a choice. So I just don't care. From now on, we are single men and therefore we will act as such."

"Therefore? As such?"

"Shut up dude," Puck said turning his gaze away from Finn again.

"Yeah well, I'm not exactly as single as you are."

That caught Puck's attention and he turned to fully look at his friend for the first time, "What are you talking about? Who? You haven't finally given into Kurt have you?"

"No. It's Quinn.' Puck gave him a suspicious look, "We aren't like official or anything. But we're talking and then we will see what happens."

"That was the most feminine thing I have ever heard you say."

Finn just rolled his eyes and sighed, "There's no way for you to make this right with Rachel is there?"

"If there is I have no idea what it is."

"If you want I can find out from her. You know ask her without telling her you're going to find out."

"Nah, not worth the trouble. I realized why I didn't do relationships before. They are too much work and then they get messy. So I'm just done."

"After everything?"

"After all of it. I wish I could just go back to before all of this. When I was a stud."

"You're serious?"

"As serious as a heart attack, dude."

~~~~*~~~~

By the time Wednesday afternoon's glee practice rolled around, Puck had never felt more like himself. Well there was that roadblock named Santana Lopez. In true Puck fashion, when Puck was feeling a little frisky before math class (which he was fully planning to ditch today), he sent a text to Santana looking for a little afternoon delight in the boys locker room. Puck rolled his eyes when he received a text back saying that she couldn't do that to Brittany. He wondered when Santana became so concerned with fidelity. When Puck offered to let Brittany join, Santana sent an angry NO, and Puck found himself in the office with the surprised nurse (since he hadn't been there in weeks) still frisky, but determined to sleep through math once again.

After his nap, Puck knew that sitting next to Quinn's evil glances in English was not on the top of his list of pleasant activities. That and Savannah was in his English class and he was avoiding her like the plague. She had been texting him since the party and he was in no way willing to deal with her, or see her or anything else that required her. So instead, Puck decided to take a trip the auditorium. It wasn't lunchtime and he fully expected to get some time alone. Not like he needed it, but it would at least give him time to regroup before continuing his day. The auditorium was quiet and much darker that he'd been used to when he sat in there to watch Rachel sing. Rachel. He had done a great job of not thinking about her, but this place was her second home and it was only natural to think of her when he was there and he was hearing her voice. _Her voice? _Puck quickly slipped into his hiding spot not having entered the auditorium through the back entrance because he wasn't expecting to hide from anyone, especially Rachel, and from the voices Quinn too.

"Quinn! I must protest this activity once again. It is not beneficial for me to be missing my classes. If I am to grow up to be a bright star I must make sure that my education has no flaws." Puck watched as Quinn was literally dragging Rachel across the stage.

"This isn't right Quinn." Puck heard Rachel protest again.

"You have to do this. We are just going to sing. And we will be singing until all of you goes back to normal other than your vocabulary and your love for school which obviously hasn't wavered."

"Quinn, I'm not exactly in the mood to sing."

"That's the problem.

"Quinn, I really appreciate the gesture. However, I'm not sure-" the ringing of the final bell interrupted Rachel.

"You're already late Rachel. And look if you promise to sing, I'll sing with you and I may have convinced some of the others from the club to come in here during lunch."

"I don't have anything to sing," Rachel said in pseudo-submission.

"You always have something to sing Rachel. Stop fighting me on this. You said yourself that singing helps deal with the emotions. And you need to sing right now,"

"Quinn," Rachel whined.

From his hiding spot Puck overheard their entire conversation and was amused with Rachel's stubbornness. He turned away from the girls, slid down the wall, and faced the darkness in front of him. Puck heard Rachel discuss something with Quinn, but he couldn't make out what they were saying. It was silent for a few minutes before the sound of Rachel's voice echoed through the entire auditorium.

_When you told me that I was a star in the sky,  
Baby I believed every word.  
And you seemed so sincere,  
It was perfectly clear,  
Cause forever was all that I heard.  
And every little kiss,  
From your tender lips,  
Couldn't of been a lie.  
I fell hard overhead,  
Without a safety net,  
And I don't understand this goodbye._

Puck listened as once again Rachel sang about him. He couldn't control the guilt that washed through him as she sang about their break up. Puck had an urge to jump up and move around. Sitting here listening to Rachel sing, as angelic as her voice was; he couldn't stand listening to the heartbreak in her voice. She had the same tone when she had been singing a few days before, except this time, it was stronger. Sitting and listening to her sing wasn't supposed to be this torturous. He had originally listened to her for comfort. Coming here after finding out he was going to be a father with a girl he didn't love. Even then when she sang about pain, it didn't make him want to run out of the room. It was probably because she was singing about her pain in regards to Finn, not him.

_Was I the only one who fell in love?  
There never really was the two of us.  
And maybe my all just wasn't good enough.  
Was I the only one, only one, in love?_

As I walk down the hall,  
See the place on the wall,  
Where the picture of us used to be.  
I fight back those tears, cause I still feel you here.  
How could you walk out so easily?  
And I don't understand, how I can feel this pain, and still be alive.  
And all these broken dreams,  
And all these memories,  
Are killing me inside.

Listening to Rachel sing, Puck's dedication to becoming truly Puck again was strengthened. Watching Rachel cry in her living room on Monday and looking at the mess he made that he was sure he could never clean up, there was no better choice. After his brief sabbatical (or bout with temporary insanity?) from his badass ways, he was more determined to return to his more simplistic lifestyle. He had already tried with Santana, but if she wanted to be faithful now, then he was going to have to find someone else. Puck knew there had to be someone else. He wished that it wasn't February and he could dive back into his pool cleaning business and even dive back into the cougars. He was going to be the man that freshman feared and all the girls wanted to be with. He was going to be a stud and no one was going to stop him. He was going to be the person he was before he piled all that 'Noah' garbage on top.

_Tell me, what I'm supposed to do with all this love?  
Baby, it was supposed to be the two of us.  
Help me, cause I still don't want to believe._

His feelings towards Rachel at this moment meant nothing. They were nothing but words that he told her. Maybe he had felt something but looking back at the pain that having those words not reciprocated created wasn't worth a minute of Puck's time not anymore. The Puck that walked around Monday was not the same Puck now and he was going to do his damnedest to make sure that whatever weaker form of himself that once existed stayed repressed.

_When you told me that I was a star in the sky,  
Baby I believed every word. _

Rachel finished singing and Puck just sat in the dark, pushing away all the emotion inside him. This transformation was going to be harder than he thought; but he was sure that he would make it work. The bell rang and Puck knew that the glee kids were going to join Quinn and Rachel and he wasn't in the mood for that. Like at all. He had to go to rehearsal and deal with them all later and if the looks Kurt was giving him on Monday weren't enough, they would be worse and probably from everyone. Its just what he needed, everyone in the room judging him. But regionals were in two weeks and they needed him and he wasn't exactly ready to give up glee. Puck managed to escape from the auditorium before anyone else showed up.

So now as Puck was sitting in glee listening to Mr. Shuester go over some choreography for I Wanna Be the Rain, Puck was immensely bored. Of course Mr. Shuester in his inability to keep up with what going on with his students, placed Puck and Rachel next to each other, despite Rachel's protest that she was better suited next to Artie. Puck was the first one out of the room when Mr. Shuester decided to end rehearsal early for yet another date with Ms. Pillsbury.

~~~~*~~~~

Thursday morning before school, Puck decided it was time to regain the fear that some of the underclassmen. As many of the student body began filing into the school, Puck spotted Jimmy Crawford, a freshman who was on the honor roll, on the chess team and in AV club. Puck had been able to recruit Nick Robinson and Brian Taylor to help him corner the boy in the parking lot, right in front of the dumpster. It had been a place Puck had frequented long ago and it felt like coming home to feel whatever it was that he felt (Puck wasn't exactly sure what the feeling was anymore) as Jimmy's body crashed inside the dumpster full of rotting lunch food and snow.

Puck was late to glee on Thursday because right before he was able to ditch his last class, he as called down to Ms. Pillsbury's office. Puck was reclined in the chair in front of Emma's desk. He had gone to put his feet up on the desk but Emma was quick to stop him from doing so. Puck noticed the sheer terror on her face as she shuffled behind her desk and settled into her chair.

"Noah-" Emma started.

"It's Puck."

"Mr. Puckerman, do you know why you've been called in here?"

"Nope, not a clue."

"Mr. Puckerman, some of the staff here at McKinley have noticed you've been acting differently the last couple of days."

Puck remained silent as Emma clasped her hands together in front of her.

"Is something going on that you might want or need to talk to someone about?"

"Nope."

"So nothing in the last week or so has changed?"

"Nope, nothing has happened that would involve me talking about my feelings. Feelings are for people who care about other people and what other people think."

Emma nodded, "But what about caring for yourself? You could be headed on a very dark and lonely path."

"Look lady, I get that Mr. Shuester probably put you up to this. But I don't need to get all emotional, I don't need to talk about my feelings or whatever path I might be heading down. Everything is fine."

"All right Mr. Puckerman if you say so," Emma surrendered, "But please remember that if you ever feel like you need to discuss anything my door is always open."

"Gotcha," Puck said getting up and leaving Emma's office.

Walking into glee, everyone was already rehearsing One Sweet Day. As he shut the door behind him, everyone paused and looked at him.

"Puck, so nice of you to join us." Mr. Shuester said and Puck could sense the annoyed tone in his voice.

"I was summoned by your favorite redhead," Puck said walking over to Mr. Shuester and handing him a note that Puck had sneaked a look at to discover that it was covered with little drawn on hearts.

"Well okay then. Take your place; we will start from the beginning."

There was a chorus of groans from the rest of the club members who Puck assumed were finally getting through the song and now they were going to have to start over. Puck was sure they couldn't do the song without him since he had a solo anyway. This upset Puck just a bit because he was going to have to put more effort into rehearsal than he had in a long time. So Puck repressed whatever part of him felt like just punching everyone in the room in the face and sang.

~~~~*~~~~

Friday was the night that Puck was able to go out and fully reclaim his badass status. Another one of the cheerios was having a party and Puck was there ready to be a stud. He totally dominated at beer pong, made out with Jessica? Maybe it was Jenna? And then took Karen back to his truck where her Cheerios uniform made it easy for Puck to have sex with her and then quickly send her back into the house before he took off and went home. Crawling into his bed, Puck realized how much of his old self he had been able to get back in just a few days. Between sex with random Cheerios and throwing Jimmy Crawford in the dumpster, it was only a matter of time because he would be 'the man' again, he would be Puck. But lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, he wondered when being Puck left him anything but satisfied at the end of the day.

* * *

AN: Song is "Was I the only one" by Jordin Sparks. And for those of you who were worried that Rachel will forgive Puck too quickly, don't worry. Our girl knows what she's doing; she's too hurt to even entertain the idea of forgiving him right now. It'll more than likely get worse before it gets better. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!


	11. Dance Inside This Tragedy

AN: Thank you to those who continue to read and those who read and review. I don't own glee. Please R&R! I'm not too thrilled with the way this chapter turned out but I'd still love to hear how bad it sucks. Most of this chapter focuses again on Puck, but only because I think all Rachel is doing during all of this is crying and that didn't sound like too much fun to write. So I'll shut up and here you go:

* * *

With only one week until regionals, the snow was finally beginning to melt as March began coming in full force. Puck was less than thrilled that Mr. Shuester had decided to call rehearsal every day that week after school. After a great weekend of parties, girls and video games with the boys, Puck was less than to spend more time than usual stuck inside the choir room with the glee club. He had had a dream the night before that involved him begging for forgiveness for his 'wrong doings' in front of Rachel and then Rachel turned into the entire glee club and now he wanted to avoid them all. Instead, he was going to spend two hours a day dancing and singing. Maybe he wouldn't come back to glee after this year was over, maybe he couldn't do it all anymore. He couldn't watch as everyone, including Quinn and Finn judged him for his actions. Puck knew Finn wouldn't say anything to him about it, because he had done it for years before everything and now, it was like riding a bike, you don't forget. Puck saw the way Quinn shook her head in disappointment almost every time they were in the same room. He didn't need that. And Rachel's eyes; well he refused to think about Rachel's eyes.

Monday morning was spent once again trying to avoid Savannah who insisted on practically following him around school. She was there at his locker when he walked in; and he just ignored her, grabbed his books and left. She was there after gym, lunch. He had fully intended on going to English but he didn't have anywhere to run when they were stuck in the same room for forty-five minutes. Savannah had been at his locker again after lunch, and he almost expected her to be standing outside the auditorium when Puck arrived to glee practice. He had several texts from her and in that moment, he realized that someone could be crazier than Rachel Berry could. Walking into the auditorium, everyone was setting themselves up on stage. Mr. Shuester hadn't arrived yet but as Puck joined everyone on stage, Rachel announced the arrival of everyone and started the vocal warm ups by herself.

Puck hates Mr. Shuester when he decides that the entire rehearsal will be spent perfecting the choreography for _I Wanna Be the Rain. _Puck spends two hours holding Rachel's hand, twirling her around and holding her close. Shuester was obviously a masochist. Puck managed to concentrate strictly on the dance moves and not the way Rachel felt underneath his fingers. And while Rachel had managed to remain professional during the entire rehearsal, Puck did notice that Rachel ran from the auditorium the second that Mr. Shuester dismissed them, Finn and Quinn hurrying behind her. That night, with his mom working late, and his sister at a friend's house for a few more hours, Puck called Jenna over to finish the make out session they were having over the weekend.

~~~~*~~~~

By lunchtime on Tuesday, Puck had shut his phone off completely. He wasn't doing relationships or Savannah Jeffreys again. But somehow, Savannah didn't understand that at all. The calls and texts were becoming a bigger hassle than Puck even wanted to deal with. He hadn't answered a single message but that only seemed to make them come more frequently, and in each one of them Savannah sounded a little more pissed off.

After lunch, Puck met with Clarissa Roberts at her locker. Clarissa was a tall brunette. She had just started attending McKinley only a few weeks ago. It was only proper that Puck help her get acquainted with the school and get especially acquainted with "Puckerone". Puck could totally tell Clarissa was into him; he was after all, a stud. Clarissa had asked Puck to come over after school. Puck would have been more than willing except for the one little problem: glee practice. Puck lied and told Clarissa that he had something to do right after school, but would be there shortly after. Puck and Clarissa were interrupted by the sound of a piercing scream filling the hallway. Puck looked to see where the scream had come from to find Savannah staring straight at him. Her face was red from screaming but she didn't say anything. She only starred at Puck and Clarissa before storming off. Clarissa gave Puck a confused look.

"She totally wants me" was Puck's only response.

Later that day, Quinn and Finn were sitting in the choir room waiting for everyone else to show up for rehearsal.

'Do you think she's lying," Quinn asked Finn.

The rumors had started going around school some time after lunch. Savannah was again bragging about how she slept with Puck all that time ago, but this time she mentioned that she was late for her period.

"I don't know," Finn said simply.

Quinn sighed and chose to ignore Finn's comment. When had agreed to them trying their relationship Quinn vowed to be a little less bitchy in regards to his less than stellar intelligence level.

"She has to be lying. She wants to be me. Which is probably why she slept with Puck."

Finn shot her a look.

"Look," Quinn continued, "Savannah Jeffreys has been trying to be better than me since the sixth grade. I wouldn't put it past her to try to copy my life, including all of its less than perfect parts."

"What about Rachel?" Finn said trying to move the conversation forward. (He wasn't stupid all the time).

"If this is true, she's going to be absolutely devastated. I just got her to smile yesterday when I let her teach me a song from West Side Story, then I watched it with her. That poor girl can't take anymore."

"Who can't take anymore?" Puck said walking into the choir room.

'Puck-" Finn started.

"You need to go talk to Savannah." Quinn said cutting off whatever catastrophic thing Finn was about to say.

"Now why on earth would I do that?"

Quinn just looked at him, afraid she would let on that she knew something."

"That's because I shouldn't" Puck said to Quinn's silence response.

Before anyone could say anything the rest of the club, including Mr. Shuester came in, and the discussion stopped.

During rehearsal, Puck had to sing with Rachel. Like really sing, with emotions and that stuff; and dance with the touching and everything. It was the first time he realized that Rachel Berry was now nothing more than the girl he had to sing and dance with for glee. She had gone back to the girl she was before she returned his shirt, and this time there wasn't even a shirt or any article of clothing to throw her back into his life. They had not a reason to speak to each other outside of glee and even then, it could be avoided.

That night Puck decided only fifteen minutes into making out with Clarissa that he wasn't feeling it. He went home and spent the rest of the evening watching sitcoms with his mother.

~~~~*~~~~

Wednesday and Thursday things got quiet. Surprisingly the rumors that Savannah had been spreading had ceased there way through the student body and neither Puck nor Rachel had heard of Savannah's possible impending motherhood. Well that was until Friday afternoon when Savannah cornered Puck in the locker room after Puck had gym.

"Why are you ignoring me?" Savannah demanded her hands on her hips.

Puck groaned, "What do you want Savannah?"

"You. Again."

Puck laughed, "That's not going to happen," Puck tried to move past her.

"Why not?" Savannah said moving to block him from leaving.

"Because, I don't do relationships Savannah. Nor do I want one with you."

"But you were in a relationship with Rachel Berry? Who knows why." Savannah said harshly.

"Well that was before. It's not going to be like that anymore."

"Well, either way, you should come to my party tomorrow night."

"Another party? It doesn't matter I can't. Glee has regionals this weekend."

"I keep forgetting that someone like you affiliates yourself with something as pathetic as glee club."

"Look Savannah, I just need you to leave me alone."

To say that Savannah was pissed at this point would have been an understatement. She had been trying for weeks to get Noah Puckerman to notice her, to want to date her.

"I'm pregnant," Savannah blurted.

Puck froze in place. Those were not the words he wanted to hear from anyone for a very VERY long time.

"Excuse me?"

"Yeah. I wasn't sure and then I took the test and now-"

"And I'm suppose to believe that its mine?"

"Of course it is silly. What we did that night, I don't do very often."

Puck was silent.

"Look," Savannah said moving close to Puck, "I don't know what's going to happen. But I'm not going to keep this baby from you like Quinn did."

Puck gave her a sharp look, "I have to go."

Puck ran out of the locker room and out of the school and home. He didn't care about glee right now because all he kept thinking was _'this isn't happening again'._

Rachel walked into glee to find Mercedes, Kurt, Tina, Artie, Santana, and Brittany whispering intensely. It reminded her of the time she had come back to glee the first time after quitting for the play, right before she found out that Quinn was pregnant. None of them had seen her.

"Do you think Rachel knows?" she heard Kurt mutter.

"She won't show up here today if she does." Mercedes said as Rachel watched her friends discuss her.

"She's going to be absolutely crushed," Tina said.

"Savannah Jeffreys is a ho. I bet the baby isn't even his." Santana said.

"What?" Rachel said. She hadn't intended that to be out loud but the five singers turned around to meet Rachel with surprised expressions.

"We didn't think you'd be here," Brittany said.

"Why wouldn't I be here? We have regionals tomorrow."

"But after the bombshell," Kurt said.

"What bombshell?"

"Savannah Jeffreys is pregnant." Brittany said.

"She says it belongs to Puck." Mercedes added.

Even after the cheating and the weeks without Puck, Rachel's chest had never felt so tight. It was like what was left of her bruised heart had finally crumbled into a million pieces and Rachel struggled just to remember to breathe.

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Kurt asked.

Rachel struggled to control her emotions, "What could I possibly say? That the way he's been acting lately this isn't surprising. It's very Puck of him."

Rachel went through rehearsal the same way she had since her and Puck had split up. She was completely dedicated to her work. There was not a single thought in her mind accept winning tomorrow.

When Puck got home he went straight for him room. He sat down and took position on his bed, the same position that he held for those weeks after Quinn lost her-_their_-baby. He remembered the panic that set in when Finn told him that Quinn was pregnant and how different (but similar in its severity) the panic was this time. He wasn't ready to be father, not now. He had wanted Drizzle and he imagined that by now she would have been almost ready to be born. He would have fought with Quinn and she would have let him take care of her and they would have kept her and they would have raised her; they would have been a family. But he didn't feel want to be family with Savannah. There was no way that he was going to abandon this baby; his feelings towards fatherhood were still the same. He might not want to be a father, but he was and he was determined to try his hardest not be his father, not be there, despite the circumstances. That night the Puck he had tried so hard to become again disappeared and he became simply, Noah. And it was then that he cried.

As Rachel finished getting her things together for the trip tomorrow, she was playing her play list entitled _Forgetting Boys with Mohawks_. Kurt had "borrowed" her laptop while they were doing homework the other day and when it was returned it there was new music on there, the saddest music Rachel had ever heard about women and men who had lost the one they loved for whatever reason. Kurt could probably have come up with a more clever, less memory inducing title, but Rachel didn't feel the need to change it. Putting her bags next to her bedroom door, Rachel got into bed and cuddled up with her pillows. She knew she needed to get to sleep if her and her vocal chords were going to perform at their maximum potential tomorrow. Turning the lights off Rachel let the façade she had been using to shield herself since glee had started down and let the heartache wash over her. Her body shook as she began to cry. Puck was having yet another baby with yet another girl who wasn't her. As she cried, she cried for him. She knew that this must be very emotional for him. To find out that he was about to be a teenage father for the second time in seven months. She remembered when Quinn had her pregnancy scare that Puck told her he would be there for her, if the situation ever came to it. And Rachel cried even harder for the fact that it was probably true now that Savannah was having his baby. Despite everything that would happen Rachel cried because she had lost Noah Puckerman forever.

* * *

AN: So Regionals is next. I'm also debating how much longer this story is going to be. I have a lot more to happen however, like with All These Words on Replay, it comes time for this part of the story to end. So I'd like to hear what you have to say. Do you think this story need to wind down before Rachel and Puck's story can go any farther? Or do you think it would be more appropriate to continue it inside this story?


	12. Regionals

AN: So finally its time for regionals! Thank you everyone who reviewed, read and alerted this story. It makes me happy even eleven chapters (now twelve) I'm still getting new people who are adding this story to their alerts and favorites! R&R! Oh! If you haven't seen the new clips that Entertainment Tonight had on tonight you should youtube it A.S.A.P. , it made my gleeky heart happy…okay...on with the story:

* * *

After missing glee on Friday, Puck showed up the bus on Saturday morning to harsh eyes from everyone and he was given a strict talking to by Mr. Shuester who was honestly just happy that Puck showed up. Mr. Shue, now, wasn't completely oblivious to what was going on with his students and after talking to his girlfriend who seemed to know as much about the gossip going around the school as Kurt did. Puck tried his best not to roll at eyes at the director as Mr. Shuester finished his mini lecture. Finding Finn, who of course was with Quinn, he quickly joined the couple.

"I need you two to split up for the day," Puck said joining them.

Finn just looked at Puck confused while Quinn's expression was far from pleasant, "You want us to what?" she barked.

"Look, not really. Thanks to Mr. Shuester's buddy system, we're all in freaking pairs. Matt and Mercedes, Tina and Artie, Brittany and Satan. And Mike in an effort to be part of the group, has agreed to pair of with Hummel because Kurt and Mercedes can't be separated for too long-"

"Look Puck, I get it," Quinn said interrupting, "I'll go pair up with Rachel. You boys stay out of trouble,"

"Yes! Thanks Quinn." Puck said as both the boys watched Quinn run up to Rachel and pull her into a conversation.

"Are you ever going to talk to her man?"

"There's nothing left to say. Especially not now."

"Because of Savannah…"

"Savannah Jeffreys and more importantly the baby I am supposedly having with her."

"Savannah told you she's pregnant?"

"Yep," Puck said popping the end of the word, "I'm not sure I believe her but I don't really have anything proof that she is otherwise, so as of right now I am a daddy to-be, again. And if sleeping with Savannah wasn't enough to drive Rachel away, this most definitely is."

Finn started talking about something then, but he tuned him out and focused on Rachel as she smiled and laughed at something Kurt was saying. He knew that the universe had to be playing a cruel joke on him to put him in this same situation twice, and one so soon after the other. He had been lucky the first time though; he could at least tolerate Quinn then. There was no a single ounce of Puck that wanted to spend more time that absolutely necessary with Savannah.

Puck was still blocking Finn out when Finn pushed him onto the bus. Puck took the window seat so that Finn could sit on the outside of their seat and Quinn could sit on the outside of her seat across from them. During the bus ride, Puck spent his time similarly to the way the bus ride to sectionals had been; staring out the window. There is singing from everyone in New Directions; Broadway songs and pop songs and Mercedes made sure to throw some of her chocolate thunder in there. Puck decided it was best to willfully participate to avoid them forcing him to participate. But there were times Puck found himself just staring out the window. And he wished in those moments that there were someone to force him to participate. He wished there was someone who was willing to pull him out of his stupor and need his guitar skills or, well just need him for anything. But as they pulled into the convention center, that never happened.

~~~~*~~~~

Just like sectionals, Kurt and Mercedes were making their way through the members of New Directions while they sat in the green room. Mercedes and Kurt had picked out their outfits as well; everyone had black on, the girls accented with lavender sashes and headbands while the boys wore lavender ties. The color choice wasn't entirely supported by the boys of the group but since all of the girls agreed on it, the boys didn't see the point in arguing.

Rachel sat waiting as Kurt plopped down next her.

"Stop looking so sad," Kurt said as he began riffling through his bag of tricks.

"Excuse me," Rachel said as Kurt moved in front of her and began applying make-up.

"Have you talked to him?" Kurt asked as Rachel shot him a look, "I guess not."

"There's nothing to say Kurt."

"He loves you, you know. "

"So he's said."

Kurt let out a squeal that brought the attention of the entire group onto him but he shooed them back into their own business and focused back on Rachel.

"And why am I just hearing about this now? And more importantly, why aren't you happier?"

Rachel sighed knowing very well that Kurt would truly have a hard time deciding if he was more upset that he didn't get the gossip then he was about her being upset.

"Because I kicked him out of my house after that," Rachel said simply.

"You did what? Rachel-"

"Look Kurt. He slept with someone else, the whole school knows and now Savannah Jeffreys is pregnant with his baby. There is nothing to be happy about there."

"So that's it?"

"There isn't anything else. So could we please not talk about this?"

Kurt sighed deciding not to push Rachel this close to show time, "Sure, we can talk about Hank Saunders."

Rachel looked at Kurt confused. She hadn't even seen Hank since Sandy Ryerson was fired and she shocked to hear the boys name come out of Kurt's mouth.

"Hank Saunders? What do we have to talk about concerning him?"

"He's coming back to McKinley next year. He wants to join glee again. And we've been talking."

"You like him. I'm surprised Hank would want to be in glee club after what I did."

"I don't think he blames you for Sandy Ryerson's twisted mind. And I might like him," Kurt said coyly.

Both teens focused their attention on the door when one of the coordinators came in to inform them that they had ten minutes before it was time for them to perform. They were performing right before Vocal Adrenaline. Mr. Shuester called everyone's attention to himself as he moved to the center of the room.

"I hope everything works out with Hank, Kurt," Rachel whispered before Mr. Shuester began his speech about the progress they had made as a group and then he wished them luck.

It was show time.

~~~~*~~~~

All twelve members of New Directions stood on stage as the curtain opened exposing them to their audience and to their judges. This was the moment that they had been working so hard towards ever since their first place win at sectionals. Together they swayed as the music started before Quinn and Finn moved to the front of the group, Finn looking directly at Quinn as he began singing.

_It's not enough to be the one who holds you  
It's not enough to be the one your close to  
I want to be so much more  
The love that your living for  
The air you breath  
I wanna be everything that touches you everything _

Watching Finn sing to Quinn made Rachel extremely jealous. It wasn't because Quinn had Finn, it was that Quinn had betrayed Finn and hurt him so deeply and he was able to forgive her. Rachel realized that she was in the same position Finn was in all those months ago, yet she couldn't find it in herself to forgive Puck. Well, maybe she could try, but he was having another baby with another girl. And Rachel knew better than to get involved in that situation, it had mess written all over it. Rachel glanced over to Puck before the chorus began and they would dance together she was immediately met with his green eyes.

_I wanna be the rain that falls on you  
Washes away the pain  
I wanna be the sun that shines on you  
Warms your world each day  
I wanna be the sky that holds the stars for you  
So you never lose your way  
I wanna be the wind that kisses your face  
I wanna be the rain _

Dancing with Rachel made Puck forget for a second, and only a second, all the bad stuff going on. He could perform through mental anguish (remember sectionals?), but Rachel wasn't there as a constant reminder that he fucked up, again, and that if Savannah was right, then he could have another consequence in about nine months. He hated thinking that his child after Quinn's would be a consequence of his irrational behavior but he hadn't wanted this. Puck was grateful when he could let go of Rachel as Quinn and Finn moved back towards the front and Quinn began her solo.

_It's not enough for me to be around you  
I wanna be everything that surrounds you  
The sun to light up on your skin  
Each breath that your breathing in  
Or that you need  
I wanna be everything that touches you everything _

_  
_Singing to Finn, Quinn had never been so happy. She finally got the boy she loved back and he was looking at her with that look in his eye that hadn't been there in a really long time. She had been through a lot in the last six months or so, she had lost her daughter and Finn, but through it all, she gained a reliable friend in Puck, and an even better friend In Rachel. Rachel had somehow gone from the girl she made fun of excessively and drew pornographic pictures about on the bathroom stalls. Quinn had called her the most cruel names, but now the only name she called her was friend and Quinn couldn't be happier. She regretted the past her and Rachel had, and now only wanted to move forward. This was why her heart ached for her friends. Quinn couldn't do anything but watch as both Puck and Rachel walked around miserable. Quinn was beyond grateful that Finn had forgiven her for her betrayal and now she hoped Rachel would find it inside her to forgive Puck.

_I wanna be the rain that falls on you  
Washes away the pain  
I wanna be the sun that shines on you  
Warms your world each day  
I wanna be the sky that holds the stars for you  
So you never lose your way  
I wanna be the wind that kisses your face  
I wanna be the rain _

As New Directions finished I Wanna Be the Rain, the audience erupted into applause and Rachel felt good about their performance. They quickly maneuvered into their places for Finale B. The boys standing behind the girls. They sang of love, loss, and sickness and in the end, all twelve members of New Directions, linked hands and then raised them above their heads as they sang together.

_NO DAY BUT TODAY!!_

As it became time for their final song, Puck couldn't wait for it to be over. Somehow, these twelve minutes seemed to be lasting forever, and he couldn't even enjoy them. He tried so hard but as everyone took their places of One Sweet Day, he had to get rid of all of that. He had a solo and the group was counting on him. He had to push all the junk with savannah and even Rachel out of his head and focus on making sure he didn't become the reason that New Directions didn't succeed at regionals. The music started and Artie lead them into their final performance.

_Sorry I never told you  
All I wanted to say  
And now it's too late to hold you  
'Cause you've flown away  
So far away  
_

_**Mercedes:**__  
Never had I imagined  
Living without your smile  
Feeling and knowing you hear me  
It keeps me alive  
Alive  
_

_**All:**__  
And I know you're shining down on me from Heaven  
Like so many friends we've lost along the way  
And I know eventually we'll be together  
One sweet day  
_

_**Puck:**__  
Darling, I never showed you  
Assumed you'd always be there  
I took your presence for granted  
But I always cared  
And I miss the love we shared  
_

_**All:**__  
And I know you're shining down on me from Heaven  
Like so many friends we've lost along the way  
And I know eventually we'll be together  
One sweet day  
_

_**Finn:**__  
Although the sun will never shine the same  
I'll always look to a brighter day _

_**Rachel:**__  
Lord I know when I lay me down to sleep  
You will always listen as I pray  
_

_**All:**__  
And I know you're shining down on me from Heaven  
Like so many friends we've lost along the way  
And I know eventually we'll be together  
One sweet day_

_**Rachel: **__  
Sorry I never told you  
All I wanted to say _

As the roar of the crowd engulfed them, New Directions bowed to the audience and headed off stage to be greeted immediately by Mr. Shuester who was all smiles, confident that his team had done an amazing job and it would be enough to place at regionals. The group immediately moved into the audience where they watched Vocal Adrenaline perform. For those of you who were there the first time, they watched with almost the same reaction as they first time. They were in awe of the group, from their large numbers to their insane dance moves. Everyone was grateful that Rachel fired Dakota Stanley as none of them every thought they would be able to dance let Vocal Adrenaline. But as Rachel had said that day, it would be their differences that would make them stand out.

After Vocal Adrenaline's performance there was a small break in which New Directions sat in anticipation until they were to join the rest of the groups on stage. As the announcer announced those who were not placing in the top three, New Directions let out a sigh of relief as they were not asked to leave the stage. This meant that there was no way Figgins was going to cancel the club now. But as the announcer named New Directions as the third place winner, there would be no nationals for them this year. As The Accidentals accepted their second place victory and Vocal Adrenaline once again came in first place, New Directions still celebrated, they had gone from five members to twelve members who placed third at regionals, and for every single one of them, that was as much of an achievement as a first place victory.

~~~~*~~~~

The bus ride back to Lima was quiet. It was almost too quiet for Puck and Rachel who were looking for a reason to escape their thoughts. Quiet only made thoughts louder. Staring out the window, watching the highway go by, Puck felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, he pulled it out and opened it to find a picture message from an unknown number. Looking at the picture his blood began to boil before he received another message.

_Thought you would want to see that. _

Puck continued reading the text before snapping his phone shut with a force that caused Finn to look over in his direction.

"Everything alright man?" Finn whispered.

Puck calmed himself down and looked at his friend, "Yeah, everything is just fine."

Puck snuck a peak past Finn and Quinn to Rachel, who was asleep, her head resting against the bus window. As Finn turned back to Quinn, Puck turned back to look out his own window and back to the speeding world that rushed around him. And for once, he thought things might just be all right.

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AN: Yay for cliffhangers! I strongly recommend listening to One Sweet Day by Mariah Carey and Boys 2 Men while New Directions is performing it. I really think the show should do it, which is also, why I didn't put all the internal angst stuff during it because it is simply to be enjoyed. The other songs they performed were Finale B from RENT and I Wanna Be the Rain by RBD.


	13. Every ending starts a new beginning

AN: This is the final chapter. After much consideration, Cry Till We See will be ending…however…I have a TON of ideas that will continue to follow the members of New Directions and Puckleberry so there will be another story. I want to thank all of you who read this and hope that you follow me to the next installment of this little series that has seemed to form. I want to thank all the reviewers, especially those who reviewed multiple chapters, even when they weren't the best. R&R!!

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Monday morning, the hallways of McKinley High were buzzing with the weekend gossip. The setting for almost all of it was Savannah Jeffreys' home. And if those who were present at the party didn't spread it around, the information hit the internet in the form of Jacob Ben Israel's blog. Jacob had a love for two things, Rachel Berry and gossip. And after all the rumors of Savannah's impending motherhood circulating, Jacob had made a decision to spend his evening crashing Savannah's party, and in turn discovering some pretty surprising news. The news was circulating, quickly, and if Savannah Jeffreys drunken confessions weren't the stupidest move she'd ever made, what she was confessing was.

Jacob's blog told the story, with video, pictures and personal statements, of how Savannah Jeffreys drank much more than she should have before getting on top of a table and announcing that she had managed to trick Noah Puckerman into believing she was pregnant with his child. She talked on and on about the look on his face and how she desperately wanted Noah Puckerman to herself and was willing to do anything to get it. Some say there were also able to hear her mumbling something about wanted to be Quinn Fabray and by doing so she had to have everything she had, and more. All of this managed to slip through Savannah's lips before a few of her Cheerio teammates were able to guide her down of the table before scoffing at her stupidity and walking away. The bottom of Jacob's blog read: **Pictures were sent to Mr. Puckerman, yet we have not yet received any word from him. **

Sunday morning, Puck had immediately gone over to Savannah's house to find it a complete mess from the party the previous night. When she opened the door, her blonde hair was a mess on top of her head, her make up was smeared practically all over her face and the bright sun pierced her eyes as the only word she spoke was "shit" before opening the door and letting Puck inside.

So as Puck walked into school that morning, his head was held high, and he felt like the badass stud that he was. No one was looking at him like he was pathetic anymore, they were acknowledging him (some of them were running away in fear) and he was happy to say that this ordeal was officially behind him. Except for one thing: Rachel. He had to go to Rachel and tell her, even if she already read Jacob's blog, because he at least after all of this drama owed her that much. But the only time that Puck was going to see Rachel was during the final glee club meeting of the year that afternoon, he couldn't do it without the other ten club members watching. But how else would he get her to listen to him? He could sing to her again. But that wasn't going to express what he wanted to say to her. Puck never thought he'd see the day when he was willing to deal with expression of feelings with a girl that didn't involve the feelings in his pants, and if it meant that he was becoming more of a girl, and then Rachel was worth becoming a girl.

So Puck spent his first three classes trying to come up with creative ways to convince Rachel to listen to him, and how to say what he had to say. But nothing came of it. So instead, he stood in the hallway as Rachel walked down the hallway and as she was walking by, Puck grabbed her by the elbow and dragged her into an empty classroom then slammed the door shut behind them.

"What are you doing Puck?" Rachel said her eyes wide.

Puck flinched at her use of the nickname, remembering that once he had not wanted to hear her call him anything else, but now he longed to hear his given name cross her lips.

"I need to talk to you," he said with a feeling déjà vu.

"And I'm sure I've told you before all you have to do is ask for my time."

"And you would have talked to me if I asked?" Puck said knowing full well she wouldn't have.

"Well, probably not, but it's less rude than dragging me into this room and causing me to miss class."

"Look, are you going to listen to me or not?"

Rachel nodded.

"Savannah isn't pregnant." Puck said quickly.

"So I've read." Rachel said simply. Kurt, upon hearing the news forced Rachel to read the blog with him, "I guess congratulations."

"Ben-Israel sent me a text Saturday on the way back from regionals and I went to talk to Savannah yesterday."

"I'm sure that was interesting," Rachel said not looking at Puck in the eye when she spoke.

"Yeah, called her a bitch for lying to me. And told her it was a mistake sleeping with her and I would never love her."

Rachel struggled to keep the tears from falling from her eyes. There was a reason she had been avoiding Puck as much as possible, because this conversation wasn't worth the pain it was causing.

"Why are you telling me this?" Rachel said trying to keep her composure.

"Because then she dropped a bomb that Ben-Israel didn't put on his blog," Puck said as Rachel looked up to meet him in the eye.

She immediately regretted her action as she looked into his green eyes and saw the eyes that made her heart melt each and every time she looked at them. This wasn't the time to melt.

"And what was that?" she said managing to keep the quiver that resonated on the inside from coming out.

Puck took a step closer to Rachel, and when she didn't step away he placed his right hand on her left cheek and when she didn't pull away, he looked straight into her eyes, "I didn't sleep with Savannah, Rachel."

Rachel looked at him bewildered.

"She said we never had sex. I was so drunk that I passed out and she just made it so that I would believe that we did. Look Rachel I'm unbelievably sorry for overreacting that day, I shouldn't have exploded like that there was just a lot running around my mind and it was like my biggest fears were coming true."

"Noah-"

"No, Rach, listen to me. I meant what I said that day. I do love you. And now that this whole Savannah mess is behind us, I hope that we can try to pick up the pieces and put us back together."

Rachel took a step back, away from Puck and let the tears fall from her eyes before taking in a deep breath, "I wish it were that simple Noah," her voice was barely audible.

"It is that simple."

"No, it's not," she said wiping the tears that ran down her face. "I can't-I can't trust that you won't go and do that again."

"But, Rach, I didn't do anything. It was all a big ugly misunderstanding."

"I know. But to know that you were capable of it. You believed it yourself, Noah. How can I trust that the next time we have a disagreement, and we will have disagreements, that you won't run off and get drunk again and maybe you won't stop?"

"Rachel, you can't push me away because of a bunch of maybes."

"I know, Noah. And I'm trying really hard but the pain I felt when you walked out that day, and when I heard about Savannah, I don't ever want to feel that again. Ever. Watching you fall back into your old 'Puck' routine was like going back in time. You seemed so comfortable in that role."

"I was miserable. It's not going to happen again, Rach, I promise."

"I'm trying really, really hard to believe you. But I'm finding it rather difficult."

Puck ran his hand over his face. He hadn't really thought about this happening. He just hoped that Rachel would hear the news and rush right back into his arms and they could work on making everything right again. Now she was standing in front of him with completely aware of the truth of the situation, more than determined to not try at all. He closed the distance she had made between them, standing just in front of her the slightest movement forward and their bodies would be touching. Puck took a chance as he leaned in surprising her as he captured her lips with his. Hope filled Puck as she returned the kiss, placing her hands on the sides of his face. Rachel pulled away first, tears still streaming down her face as she rested her forehead against Puck's.

"I'm so sorry Noah," Rachel said making distance between them and started walking towards the door.

Puck stood there in the middle of the classroom watching her walk towards the door and everything inside him screamed at him to stop her; to prove to her that all her insecurities had no basis in reality. Only that they did and he couldn't blame her for this. He couldn't be upset that she was running for the door. Rachel stopped her hand on the doorknob. She paused but didn't turn around.

"You said you thought you were changing me, and maybe that was true. All my wishes before were about me. Because the only person I had in my life besides my fathers was myself. But I have friends now and there are people out there who care. And you gave that to me Noah, I'll never forget that."

Without giving him time to respond, she opened the door and slipped into the hallway that would soon be filled with the rest of the student body and all Puck could do was stand there.

~~~~*~~~~

Everyone gathered into the choir room at three-thirty for the final glee meeting of the school year. Everyone was talking amongst themselves when Mr. Shuester walked into the room taking his place beside the piano and all the members of New Directions knew that their leader was about to make one of his famous speeches.

"Thanks for coming guys. There are just a few loose ends I want to tie up and an announcement and then you can finish the semester off. I am so proud of your performance this weekend. There is no reason to be upset or disappointed that you placed third because that is an amazing feat in itself. You've all done an amazing job this year. New Directions has gone from this idea in my head to five members, to the twelve members that sit before me. You placed first at sectionals and third at regionals and that is amazing. But I have to ask, are any of you not planning on returning next year?"

Everyone looked around the room to see if there was anyone who had had enough of this family, anyone who was willing to walk away; but no one raised their hand.

"Good," Mr. Shuester continued, "We have our twelve and we work well together, but we have the opportunity to grow and that means accepting more members. I know we have some time, but over the summer, I would like to run a camp. We can spend the rest of the school year gaining the interest of some of the other students, and then over the summer we can hold auditions again, we can start rehearsal early so that next year we can place first at regionals. Don't get the wrong impression, I will be proud of you whether you place first, third, or last because I know that each and every one of you will put their entire heart into performing. Despite all the personal junk that you all have gone through this year, you've managed to stay a team and a family and that is the only way we are going to be able to succeed next year. So while we aren't going to meet every week, I want you all to write down any ideas that come to mind, and we will meet once before school ends and then over the summer we can work on perfecting our routines.

"It has been the most amazing honor and privilege to work with each and every one of you and feel lucky to work with such talented performers. Together, all of us will put glee club back on the map at McKinley."

New Directions gave their leader a standing ovation while a chorus of 'thank you's rang from them. Each and every one of them was proud to stand there and be part of the group that once held such a negative stigma, and in some ways (and mostly to some of the popular kids) it still did. But through the friendships and other relationships that formed between the group and even through all the heartbreak and pain that sat on top of some of its members, all twelve teenagers were determined to come back next year, stronger and more determined than ever.

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AN: Until I wrote this last part, I didn't know if this was the end of the story, or just the end of this part of it but the words that came out had such a finality to them that It was time move on…so, right now the title of the next story is What Makes Us Remember and I hope to have the first chapter up maybe during the weekend but it might be Monday or Tuesday. I also have some one-shot ideas and another fic I want to start so look out for those as well. Again thank you for everyone who read Cry Till We See as well as All These Words on Replay. I don't think I ever mentioned this but Cry Till We See is a lyric from the song August 28th 3:30 a.m but Automatic Loveletter, the same band that inspired All These Words on Replay…okay enough from me..I hope you enjoyed this and I hope that you all follow to the new story. R&R!


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